Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport Identifies Direct Demand Across Europe

Our Route Opportunities feature explores the latest unserved and underserved routes promoted through Routes 360, providing supporting information for airline network planners to consider and capitalize on.

Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport (OLB) is a key international gateway for travelers to Sardinia, the second-largest island in the Mediterranean that is known for its stunning beaches, rich cultural heritage, and unique cuisine.

OLB experience a notable 4% increase in passenger numbers, reaching 3.2 million in 2023. This figure is expected to rise to 3.8 million in 2024. With a population of 1.6 million, more than 50% of Sardinia’s air passengers pass through the airport and seaport.

In the past three years, OLB has expanded its network with 36 new routes and 16 new airlines. Volotea, which established a base at the airport in 2021, now operates over 20 routes from OLB, including recent additions to Brest and Paris.

During the summer 2024 season, OLB has direct flights to 81 destinations across 24 countries with 36 airline partners. Ryanair has introduced several new routes, including Vienna, Dublin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Bergamo, Bologna, Trieste, Kraków, and London Stansted. Eurowings has also added a 2X-weekly service to Hannover for the period.

Central to OLB’s success is its tailored incentive schemes and collaboration with local stakeholders, including tourism boards, to drive inbound traffic to the destination and support seat capacity on all routes.

With the infrastructure and operational efficiency to handle an influx of passengers, OLB is looking to expand its direct services with unserved route opportunities across Europe. As a member of Routes 360, the only digital platform dedicated to route development, OLB has uploaded multiple route opportunities to its profile.

Unserved:

• Albrecht Dürer Airport Nürnberg (NUE)
• Belfast Airport (BFS)
• Bergen Airport (BGO)
• Budapest Airport (BUD)
• East Midlands Airport (EMA)
• Glasgow Airport (GLA)
• Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
• Helsinki Airport (HEL)
• iGA – Istanbul Airport (IST)
• JFK International Air Terminal (JFK)
• Katowice Airport (KTW)
• Keflavik-Reykjavik Airport (KEF)
• Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA)
• Lisbon Airport (LIS)
• Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL)
• London City Airport (LCY)
• Newcastle International Airport (NCL)
• Porto Airport (OPO)
• Santiago Airport (SCQ)
• Seville Airport (SVQ)
• Sofia Airport (SOF)
• Swedavia - Goteborg Landvetter Airport (GOT)
• Tallinn Airport (TLL)
• Vilnius Airport (VNO)
• Wroclaw Airport (WRO)

Discover the latest available routes and identify new business opportunities.

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