SARDINIA LOSES OUT AS GOVT FAILS TO ABOLISH MUNICIPAL TAX YEAR-ROUND

Ryanair, Europe’s and Italy’s No.1 airline, today (Wed, 21 Oct) announced its Winter 2026 schedule for Sardinia, which results in less flights for Alghero and Olbia due to the Sardinian Government’s continued failure to abolish the Municipal Tax year-round. While other Italian regions including Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Calabria, Abruzzo, Sicily, and Emilia-Romagna have scrapped the Municipal Tax year-round and secured double-digit traffic growth, additional aircraft, new bases and increased connectivity, Sardinia continues to fall behind as a result of its uncompetitive aviation policy.

Ryanair’s Sardinia W26 schedule will deliver:

• Reductions in Alghero (-15%) and Olbia (-50%) – including loss of -1 route.
• Growth for Cagliari – incl. 1 new route to Forli and more flights to Milan Malpensa and Venice
• Over 4.5m passengers p.a.
• Supporting over 3,500 local jobs

The Sardinian Government’s recent decision to suspend the Municipal Tax for Winter ’26 and Winter ’27 is a welcome acknowledgement that the tax is damaging Sardinia’s connectivity, tourism and economic growth. However, the measure was announced too late to influence Winter ’26 and falls well short of the permanent, year-round abolition required to restore Sardinia’s competitiveness.

The contrast with other Italian regions is stark. In Sicily, the abolition of the Municipal Tax at Trapani-Marsala has already delivered a new Ryanair base, additional aircraft, new routes, record traffic growth and hundreds of new jobs. Meanwhile, Sardinia continues to tax passengers and lose out on aircraft, connectivity, tourism and employment growth. Instead of abolishing this damaging tax and stimulating sustainable growth, the Sardinian Government continues to pour almost €50m per year of public money into a failed PSO system.

If Sardinia follows the example of Sicily, Calabria, Abruzzo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Emilia-Romagna and abolishes the Municipal Tax year-round, Ryanair stands ready to immediately deliver 2m additional passengers p.a., 4 additional aircraft (US$400m investment), a new base in Northern Sardinia, and more than 900 new jobs within five years.

Ryanair CCO, Jason McGuinness, said:

“While we welcome the Sardinian Government’s decision to suspend the Municipal Tax during Winter ’26 and Winter ’27, the measure came too late to influence Winter ’26 and falls well short of the year-round abolition needed to restore Sardinia’s competitiveness – particularly in Alghero and Olbia which suffer from chronic seasonality.

The success of Trapani-Marsala shows exactly what happens when Governments adopt pro-growth aviation policies. Lower access costs deliver more traffic, more tourism, more jobs and lower fares. However, instead of abolishing this damaging tax and stimulating sustainable traffic growth, the Sardinian Government continues to waste almost €50m every year of taxpayer money on a failed PSO system.

The choice for Sardinia is simple. It can continue to lose growth to more competitive Italian regions, or it can follow the examples of Sicily, Calabria, Abruzzo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Emilia-Romagna and abolish the Municipal Tax year-round. If it does, Ryanair stands ready to immediately deliver 2m additional passengers p.a., 4 additional aircraft (US$400m investment), a new base in Northern Sardinia, and more than 900 new jobs within five years.”