Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport ( it, link=no, Aeroporto di Olbia-Costa Smeralda) is an airport in
Olbia
Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called ''Olbia'' in the Roman age, ...
, Sardinia. It was the primary operating base for Italian airline
Air Italy Air Italy may refer to:
*Air Italy (2005–2018)
*Air Italy (2018–2020)
Air Italy (registered as AIR ITALY S.p.A.) was a privately owned Italian airline, headquartered in Olbia, Sardinia. In 2019, the company was the second largest airline i ...
whose headquarters were located at the airport. It mostly handles seasonal holiday flights from destinations in Europe and is managed by Geasar S.p.A.
History
![Olbia Airport during high season](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Olbia_Airport_during_high_season.jpeg)
A military airfield was opened at Olbia (then Terranova Pausania) in 1921, and a
seaplane
A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...
base was inaugurated close to the Isola Bianca harbour in 1927, although poor loads from the island on the flights to
Ostia
Ostia may refer to:
Places
*Ostia (Rome), a municipio (also called ''Ostia Lido'' or ''Lido di Ostia'') of Rome
*Ostia Antica, a township and port of ancient Rome
*Ostia Antica (district), a district of the commune of Rome
Arts and entertainment ...
and
Cagliari
Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...
led to the service's stop in Terranova being discontinued in 1929. The airfield and seaplane base were targeted by
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
bombing
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...
in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and the Germans opened another airfield 4.5 miles west of the town, which was renamed
Olbia
Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called ''Olbia'' in the Roman age, ...
in 1945.
Commercial flights gradually returned and in 1963, the Olbia-based airline
Alisarda
Alisarda S.p.A. operating as Alisarda was an Italian airline based in Olbia, Sardinia that operated between 1963 and 1991 before it merged with Universair to become Meridiana. As of 2019, Alisarda S.p.A. is a holding company with a 51% stake in ...
was formed. It successfully expanded its route network, introducing jet flights in 1972, and it was renamed
Meridiana
Meridiana Fly S.p.A., operating as Meridiana (formerly named ''Meridiana S.p.A.''), was a privately owned Italian airline headquartered in Olbia with its main base at Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport. It operated scheduled and charter flights to do ...
in 1991. However, the introduction of jet aircraft necessitated the building of a larger airport nearer the city; the current airport was completed in 1974.
Following three years of work, a new terminal covering 42,000 square metres and capable of handling 4.5 million passengers per year, was unveiled on 6 June 2004. Costing a total of €81 million, the structure was designed by Willem Brouwer Architects and incorporated the original terminal building, which was developed into a 3000-square metre retail area. The new building has 40 check-in desks and ten boarding gates, five of which are equipped with
jet bridge
A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...
s. It contains a wide variety of shops and restaurants, a wine bar, a small art gallery, and indoor garden areas featuring local flora.
The airport also is home to the Tourist Management department of the
University of Sassari
The University of Sassari ( it, Università degli Studi di Sassari, UniSS) is a university located in Sassari, Italy. It was founded in 1562 and is organized in 13 departments.
The University of Sassari earned first place in the rankings for t ...
.
From 3 February to 14 March 2020, the airport closed to passenger air traffic for the refurbishment and extension of the taxiways and runway. During this period, all flights arriving and departing were cancelled. The airport building remained in this period open to events of various kinds. The airport, which was initially scheduled to reopen on March 14, 2020, remained closed until June 2, as a result of the measures taken by the Italian authorities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The airport reopened on June 3.
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Olbia:
[https://www.geasar.it/Cms_Data/Contents/geasar_it/Media/docs/timetable/TIMETABLE/Network-2018-20_winter.pdf ]
Statistics
Ground transportation
By car
the airport is connected by motorway to local motorways SS125 and SS729.
By bus
The following bus services operate to/from the airport.
Local buses
Local operator ASPO Olbia operates two routes to/from the airport:
*2 Airport-Sa Minda Noa
*10 Airport-Town Centre-Airport
Regional and long distance buses
*514 Olbia-Olbia Airport-Siniscola-Nuoro
*601 Santa Teresa di Gallura-Palau-Arzachena-San Pantaleo-Olbia-Olbia Airport
* Cala Gonone-Dorgali-Orosei-La Caletta-Olbia Airport
* Nuoro-Siniscola-Budoni-San Teodoro-Olbia Airport
*20 Olbia Airport-Olbia-Porto Cervo-Baja Sardinia-Hotel Stelle Marine (Costa Smeralda Shuttle)
*30 Olbia Airport-Olbia-Calangius-Castelsardo-Porto Torres
*90 Alghero-Alghero Fertilia Airport-Sassari-Olbia Airport-Olbia
*Olbia Airport-Olbia-Arzachena-Palau-Santa Teresa di Gallura
*Olbia-Telti
*Cagliari-Oristano-Abbasanta-Nuoro-Siniscola-San Teodoro-Olbia Airport-Olbia-Arzachena-Palau-Santa Teresa di Gallura
References
External links
Official website*
{{authority control
Airports in Sardinia
Airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...