Air territorial continuity, after the renunciation of Aeroitalia in the skies of Sardinia uncertainty takes off

Uncertainty takes off over the skies of Sardinia. Because from January the connections in territorial continuity, i.e. at fixed fares and regulated prices, on some routes to Rome and Milan could be at risk. Aeroitalia, the airline that guarantees a large part of the connections, has announced its withdrawal from continuous routes starting from 2027 due to the high costs of jet fuel.

The announcement

This was announced yesterday by CEO Gaetano Intrieri at the table with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, ENAC and the Region. Not a bolt from the blue, because already in March the company had reported a problem in the tender for the so-called territorial continuity.

Price increases too high

Namely, the sharp increase in the cost of fuel, which rose by 150% compared to February. Then the intervention of Enac. «In Sardinia, however, the path stalled for reasons which, in our opinion, were more political than technical - recalled Intieri -. In May the Autonomous Region of Sardinia committed to allocating around 20 million euros for Aeroitalia and Ita Airways, to be divided based on the activity carried out by each company. At that meeting no one raised regulatory problems on the provision of contributions to the two companies that guarantee the territorial continuity of the island. Yet, as of September, those resources had not yet arrived. Today, nine months after our first reports, we are still waiting."

The stop since January

According to the manager, there would now be "no longer the conditions to continue operating". «I say it clearly - he added -: there will be no disruption to citizens. However, we want to agree with the Region, in a climate of collaboration, an orderly conclusion to the report, which is now in the final credits."

From the manager of the company that employs around 800 people, almost half of whom are in Sardinia, another passage: «Our objective will be to close this phase quickly, possibly by January 2027».