UK to Olbia

[OlbiaMan]

Does anyone know why Meridiana is not continuing it's UK->Olbia flights into next summer? And why is it so hard to get to Olbia compared to say Cagliari or Alghero off-season? I know its full of yatchies (not me), but still . . . . seems odd.

Or to put it another way, with jet2 launching a route there from Leeds-Bradford, and also Edinburgh etc plus easyjet all over it from Gatwick (ie loads of UK flights) in the summer, why is the winter schedule so disproportionately thin - no direct flights UK at all?

[airhumberside]

Isn't the tourist market there mainly in summer, meaning winter demand is mainly any ex-pats/second home owners and a (very?) small amount of business traffic?

[h&s]

what i heard is airports costs at OLB are quite high, and much higher than CAG or AHO

[OlbiaMan]

Ahh, that makes sense, thank you h&s. I have always noticed a premium.

But right now, Easyjet are charging £500 for LGW-OLB return (eg 11-18 Sept) as monopolists versus £180 for London-CAG, where BA competes. Surely this gap reflects fat profit as well as airport charges . . . .

Is there any chance the BA tie-up with Meridiana will lead to either of them coming back onto London-OLB?

Why don't TUI fly the route - they have bases in LGW and OLB?

These high prices seem totally over the top.

[freightdoggy dog]

Think out of the box OLBman...I often fly OLB-FCO with Meridiana, then connect to UK from FCO...often cheaper than direct OLB-UK out of season, or marry a Sardinian...special rates for natives