Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport (Italian: Aeroporto di Olbia-Costa Smeralda) (IATA: OLB, ICAO: LIEO) is an airport in Olbia, Sardinia, Italy. It was the primary operating base for Italian airline Air Italy 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
Terminal building and control towerDeparture gate area before refurbishment in 2020General aviation apron
A military airfield was opened at Olbia (then Terranova Pausania) in 1921, and a seaplane base was inaugurated close to the Isola Bianca harbour in 1927, although poor loads from the island on the flights to Ostia and Cagliari led to the service's stop in Terranova being discontinued in 1929.[citation needed] The airfield and seaplane base were targeted by Alliedbombing in World War II, and the Germans opened another airfield 4.5 miles west of the town, which was renamed Olbia in 1945.[citation needed]
Commercial flights gradually returned, and in 1963, the Olbia-based airline Alisarda was formed. It successfully expanded its route network, introducing jet flights in 1972, and it was renamed Meridiana in 1991.[citation needed] However, the introduction of jet aircraft necessitated the building of a larger airport nearer the city; the current airport was completed in 1974.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] The new building has 40 check-in desks and ten boarding gates, five of which are equipped with jet bridges. 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.
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.[3] 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:[4][5]
