Sardinian airport gets ready for May launch of Delta Air Lines services from New York, writes Graham Dunn
When Delta Air Lines touches down at Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport in May with the first scheduled flight from the USA to Sardinia it will be a landmark breakthrough, both for the airport and the Italian island.
The US carrier will begin the four-times-weekly service from New York JFK on 20 May using Boeing 767-300ERs. The launch of the route should go down well with members of its SkyMiles frequent flyer programme, who previously voted for it as their most wished-for new European destination.
Olbia Airport’s Route Development Manager, Mario Garau, said the new route reflects a notable drive by the wider region to secure a US service.
“This is a project that started five years ago with all the stakeholders, not just the airport but tourism operators, the regional government, the whole tourism value chain,” he said during a panel session at the Connect Route Development Forum in Lublin.. “We have several hotels that invested in Sardinia, luxury brands very well known in the US.”
Olbia has also benefitted from increased US airline activity in Europe. “We know US carriers are investing in Europe, especially in Italy. They recently opened several new routes which are beyond the traditional hubs like Milan and Rome, and Olbia is a high-yield market,” said Garau.
United Airlines, for example, will add Bari this summer as one of several new European points, while in addition to Olbia Delta will also fly to Malta and Porto from New York JFK this summer.
Olbia is one of three airports on Sardinia and Garau flags the importance of the wider island to support the service.
“Our aim is to develop the region as a whole because otherwise it doesn’t make sense,” he said. “There is a robust business plan behind this. We worked closely with the stakeholders and Delta and we strongly believe this is just the beginning of our story.”
The Delta route will operate only during the summer – and seasonality remains one of the biggest challenges facing Olbia. For example, the airport handled 32,000 passengers on one day last July , more than it handled across all of February.
“This is a huge challenge that we have,” said Garau, noting the work the airport is doing with its stakeholders to develop a strategy to reduce the seasonality of its traffic.
One key attraction beyond sun and sea is interest in Sardinia as one of the world’s five ‘Blue Zones’ – a region and lifestyle notable for the longevity and vitality of the local population.
“There are a lot of people from the US, not just going to the coast, but also going into the centre of the island to discover this,” he said.
Olbia Airport handled 4.2 million passengers in 2025. Other new services starting there this year include Transavia flights to Eindhoven and Volotea’s summer flights to Seville.
