The silent cuts that reduce service and limit the right to mobility. Ita cancels spot flights to the capital. If previously the reduction was on Linate, now the average service is reduced with 3-4 flights a week to Rome Fiumicino. On some days the most valuable morning flight departing at 6.10am is eliminated. Several cancellations are expected throughout the month of February. Operations are drastically reduced. A decision that effectively makes it impossible to go and return on the same day, a method that was much appreciated by the communities of Reggio and Messina. Yes, because the decision does not “undermine” the large numbers of tourist flows but makes travel for healthcare and work more difficult and expensive, making it almost impossible to connect connections to other destinations. Just do a booking simulation to get an overview of the dates on which the flight was cancelled.
On paper, the former national company claims purely maintenance reasons for the fleet. Therefore, with the planes stopped for interventions, it is preferable to invest on routes considered more profitable. But the idea that we continue to arm-wrestle in order to get yet another incentive may not be unfounded. After years of monopoly with dizzying tickets for Reggio users, at least this is the feeling, Ita raises the bar to claim those incentives that the Region used to bring in the low cost airline. An activity that gave the Strait airport a record-breaking season and placed the Strait city among the tourist flows. The decision of the Calabria Region which from 1 August 2024 canceled the municipal surcharge for carriers flying from the airports of Lamezia, Crotone and Reggio, which amounted to 6.50 euros for each passenger, resulted in an increase in the commercial offer with the arrival of Ryanair and international routes. The reassurances that have arrived in recent months from Ita «No disengagement: the reasons that led to the cancellation of night-stop flight rotations are of an operational nature» leave a bitter aftertaste for users of the Strait.
Moreover, the same “strategy” was adopted with Linate which saw a drastic reduction from three to just one daily flight. So not only did the hopes of seeing the canceled flight reinstated fail to materialise, but the national airline continues to make cuts. A choice that could cause the estimate of the number of passengers at the Strait airport to be revised downwards. Already the Assaeroporti report for November marked a slight decline compared to the same period last year. We are now awaiting December data which usually offers encouraging elements. But the new cuts sound like a cold shower.
Although it seems that in the negotiations between the company that manages the three Calabrian airports, Sacal and the former company could receive some news regarding the route to Linate. Perhaps there is a possibility that a flight could be reactivated from spring. This would be the mid-morning one leaving at 11.15am. An “unfortunate” timetable that is poorly compatible with the needs of those traveling for work or medical emigration which in any case make returning on the same day unlikely.
And in the meantime, while the tug of war continues in silence, the Strait community has to deal with new inconveniences.
