ITA Airways and Volotea submit joint bid for Sardinian PSOs and open 118 Rome connections

ITA Airways and Volotea have submitted a joint bid (RTI) to operate Sardinia’s PSO routes — Cagliari–Rome Fiumicino and Olbia–Milan Linate — and say they will form a temporary consortium if awarded. They also activated an interline arrangement that would provide access to 118 onward connections via Rome.

Discovered 2025-12-15T05:16:14.005280-08:00 | 2025-12-15T05:16:14.005280-08:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

Winning the PSO awards for Cagliari–Rome and Olbia–Milan would immediately change Sardinia’s connectivity and, via the announced interline, provide access to 118 onward connections through Rome — a direct network and revenue impact for both carriers.
The move strengthens ITA’s domestic feed into Rome, which underpins broader commercial network strategies such as efforts to add ITA to a transatlantic joint venture.
Partnering with Volotea leverages the LCC’s capacity and financial momentum — including its recent 20 190m EBITDA forecast for 2025 — showing how incumbents and low-cost carriers are using temporary RTIs and commercial agreements to compete for subsidised regional routes.

Reported By

travelandtourworld.com ch-aviation air-journal.fr Aviacionline aerotelegraph.com avionews.it