Aeroitalia chief executive Gaetano Intrieri has proposed concentrating Sardinia’s protected air fares on residents, while allowing market prices for other passengers. The idea appears in his answers to WEtravel NEWS, published on November 1, as the airline and regional authorities debate the cost of the island’s public-service air links.
What the airline is proposing
Intrieri’s suggested model would retain a protected resident fare and minimum service levels, but give airlines more freedom over capacity and flight frequencies. It would also include a public mechanism to cover the difference between the resident fare and a reference value.
He argues that seasonal demand, regulated fares and rising costs have put pressure on the existing model. The interview presents these as the airline’s arguments and proposals; it does not announce a new fare’s start date or a definitive decision to leave the Sardinian services.
The regional response
In an October 31 report, Sardegna Live quoted regional transport assessor Barbara Manca saying that none of the cuts under discussion had been authorised. She said the regional fuel-support process still required route-level assessment and was constrained by national and European rules.
The region’s own September 30 announcement describes a €10 million fund for 2026 and a technical review of airlines’ additional fuel costs. It explicitly distinguishes that process from an automatic, blanket reimbursement. The announcement sought to support the services without passing higher fuel costs to passengers through fare increases.
Public-service obligations and subsidies differ
Sardinia’s February 2 announcement provides useful context: Aeroitalia had accepted the Olbia–Rome, Olbia–Milan and Cagliari–Rome public-service obligations without ordinary financial compensation. Other awarded services were treated separately. Describing every protected route as a subsidised flight would therefore obscure an important distinction in this dispute.
What passengers should check
The November 1 interview is a policy discussion, rather than a replacement timetable or a new fare offer. Before changing plans, check the operating flight, fare conditions and eligibility attached to the actual booking with the airline or issuing agent. A proposal about the future of the system does not identify which individual flight, if any, has changed.
Sources: WEtravel NEWS’s November 1 published interview; Sardegna Live, October 31; Sardinia’s September 30 fuel-fund announcement and February 2 service announcement. Flyzeu did not conduct the interview.
