The future of airports: "Mergers are unnecessary; integrated systems are needed."

Following the rulings of the Court of Auditors and the National Anti-Corruption Authority, the privatization of Sardinia's airports risks colliding with the National Airport Plan 2026-2035 (PNA). The government adopted the plan in May, which will become fully operational once the strategic environmental assessment has been completed.

Opposing positions

You have to turn to page 71 to find the first major discrepancy between the Sardinian scenario and the "system planning" advocated by the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry that advises the Regions to "promote the establishment of airport systems through the integration and collaboration of the management company, without necessarily subjective changes in the ownership of the concession agreements." This is the exact opposite of what the Todde government intends to achieve, by spending €30 million to reach a 9.25% stake in the future island holding company.

The vision

For the government and ENAC, the Italian National Civil Aviation Authority, which worked on the PNA together with the ministry, "connectivity and co-accessibility" are key to airport system design, meaning the airports' ability to ensure mobility while also "enhancing the various possible forms of intermodality." Furthermore, the PNA does not overlook the centrality of Cagliari's Mameli Airport in Sardinia, "which is why maintaining its public character must in no way be compromised," says Pino Calledda, a Cagliari city councilor and member of the Five Star Movement, but opposed to the operation, unlike Todde's party.

Ripple effect

Furthermore, the risk is that the new vision that the National Plan (PNA) assigns to Cagliari as a "significant airport to support the growth of freight transport," along with Malpensa, Fiumicino, Venice, Brescia, Taranto, Ancona, Catania, and Lamezia Terme, will also be undermined. "All of these conditions are unpredictable if the operation launched by F2I Ligantia, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Region goes through," Calledda concludes.

Alessandra Carta