The tender for the rental of regional fire-fighting helicopters was unsuccessful and a high-risk summer is expected for Sardinia. Too low prices and too short times for the rental of aircraft have made the two "cartels" of airline associations which in the last two campaigns had won the seasonal contract for 12 helicopters (11 medium plus one medium heavy) give up. A big problem for the three-year period from this year to 2026 for "the assignment of the aerial service for reconnaissance, prevention and repression of rural and forest fires and activities related to the functions of the forestry and environmental surveillance corps". Times are very tight and, thanks to a mild and little rainy winter, there is a real risk, also amplified by the elections which effectively make the political side missing. The scenario, far from remote, is that our island remains without weapons from the sky to fight the plague of summer fires.
The mess
But what happened? Why did no one show up on February 6th - the day the envelopes with the offers were opened - to win a contract that until 2021 was among the most coveted in Europe? To try to shed light on a contract that was managed in an anomalous manner at the very least, it is necessary to go back to 2021, when the "Elitellina" business association (which passed into the hands of a Spanish holding company) and the Salerno company "E +S Air” took the contract away from joint ventures Airgreen, Eliossola, Starwork Sky, Elifriulia and Elitellina (before it was sold) which had been managing firefighting campaigns for a decade. A reduction of approximately 16% compared to the competitors' offer to offer 11 Ecureuil H125 helicopters (5 from 15 May to 15 October and 6 from 15 June to 30 September, for a total of 3750 three-year flight hours at 11,400 million euros ) and two Eurocopter Superpuma helicopters (one from 1 July to 31 August, the other from 15 July to 15 August, for 501 total flight hours in the three-year period at 4.3 million euros).
The problems for the Spanish Elitellina and the Campania company arose almost immediately (logistical problems, costs for the pilots, unforeseen events) and so the amount of the tender proved insufficient to cover the costs.
The differences with the contract that has just expired are substantial. The new specifications do not provide for the availability of a light vehicle all year round, but on the other hand require the availability of a Super Puma for only one month, a period that is too limited for helicopters that are in high demand on the market and which have very high non-depreciable management costs. in just 30 days.
Deserted race
The increase in general expenses and the greater demand for fire-fighting helicopters have made the airline companies desist from participating in the tender of the General Directorate of the Regional Procurement Centre, which set the value of the new specifications. This is why, with prices so low, no one participated in the tender which expired on February 6th.
The way out is difficult, also because the business association that has managed the campaign against the summer fires for years has ended up in the crosshairs of the Antitrust for the Sardinian contract. Since then there has been an ongoing lawsuit with the Region and it seems unlikely that it will be able to participate in a new tender with the ongoing dispute with Viale Trento.
The commander
Fabio Migliorati, general of the Guardia di Finanza, is the commander of the island's Forestry Corps. «The starting bid, although not high, was deserted because the other companies that manage the helicopters won other tenders in other parts of Italy. Since ours is a large fleet they decided not to participate." Was the tender amount for firefighting too low? «You have to ask the commissioning office that follows the procedures for this. We provide the technical contribution, we don't establish the figures. We did everything more quickly than in the past, but if market conditions change it's not our fault." This summer will be a problem. «We will do what we have to do to guarantee the safety of Sardinia. This summer we will have helicopters."
Now, taking as a starting point a "suggestion" from the Court of Auditors which explained how in a few years the rental funds would be sufficient to purchase a Sardinian fleet, why not think about purchasing helicopters supplied to the Forestry Corps?
