Domestic flights flopped, with Aeroitalia's ATRs half-empty: "Not very useful and expensive."

Andrea Mascia has flown hundreds of times on the Cagliari-Olbia route. Aeroitalia, the airline managing territorial continuity, has operated the same route twice a week since Friday, July 3rd, until the end of August. The numbers are modest: on the opening day, there were about ten passengers in Alghero and about 15 in Olbia, almost identical to last Monday (8 in Alghero, 17 in Olbia). For Mascia, a former Meridiana captain with thousands of hours at the helm, "the internal flights operated between the two northern Sardinian airports and the capital are just propaganda, or more elegantly, persuasive marketing." The economic aspect is said to be secondary to the logistical positioning of the planes, which must be relocated as needed. However, a few paying passengers is better than none.

Pros and cons

The twice-weekly frequencies and schedules, which do not allow for same-day round trips, do not meet the needs of Sardinians forced to relocate for work or health reasons. On the other hand, it must be said that the fares are very affordable compared to driving and would also allow one to bypass the Carlo Felice Russian roulette, with all its dangers and unexpected events. By car, the journey from Cagliari to Olbia takes just under three hours, by train three and a half hours, and by plane a half-hour flight, with expedited boarding procedures thanks to the free Fast Track service, to which must be added a boarding time of at least an hour. Aeroitalia, for the two domestic routes, benefits from a 50% discount on airport fees; the difference, covered by the Region, varies from airport to airport and will be calculated on a final basis. A meeting between the Department of Transport and its Corsican counterparts is scheduled for mid-July to try to integrate and develop other connections.

Andrea Artizzu