Olbia Airport Arrivals (OLB)

Besides Olbia Airport, Alghero Airport and Cagliari Airport are the main airports in Sardinia. Cagliari is the largest and serves the southern regions of Sardinia, while Olbia and Alghero serve the northern regions, with Olbia to the east and Alghero to the west. Although Ryanair is a popular airline carrier at Alghero Airport, they do not have flights from Olbia. Meridiana Fly is the main airline company at Olbia Airport, along with Easyjet, Air One, Air Berlin, Lufthansa and Alitalia. Olbia Airport is international, and therefore flights arrive from areas such as London. Easyjet flies between London-Gatwick and Olbia Airport, as well as Thomas Cook Airlines, and the duration of the flight is about two and a half hours. Many local tourists also arrive at Olbia Airport from other Italian cities on the mainland, from airports such as Bari, Bologna, Catania, Milan-Malpensa, Venice-Marco Polo and Rome-Fiumicino.

The air terminal of Olbia Airport was recently (2004) completely renovated, and is now a very modern yet functional building, which is welcoming to all its passengers. It is a comfortably sized terminal, more than capable of handling its passenger traffic. The terminal is also easy to navigate, as it is not that large, therefore arriving passengers will easily find all the facilities and services they need before leaving the airport. In the arrivals area, there are the baggage carousels, from where hold baggage is collected, the Lost and Found office, car rental companies and a tourist information desk.

Passengers, who have ended up in the unfortunate situation where their airline company has misplaced or damaged their luggage, should go immediately to the Lost and Found office, and report the incident. The handling company of your airline carrier will then initiate the process of retrieving your baggage. If your airline is a member of the World Tracer Baggage System then you will be able to follow the progress of the retrieval over the Internet. Luggage that is damaged should also be reported immediately, and may be eligible for replacement.

Further facilities at Olbia Airport include a full service bank (Banco Di Sardegna), various cash points, currency exchange services, basic first aid services and numerous interesting shopping outlets, as well as a couple of restaurants and snack bars. The Polo Universitario Di Olbia is also situated within the airport terminal and offers students in Sardinia Degree courses in Economics and Tourism. Olbia airport has meeting rooms available in the Meeting and Business Centre, for the use of corporate clients. The rooms are air conditioned and comfortable, and various items of equipment can be requested for use in order to facilitate business functions. Secretarial and catering services are also available.

Many of the major car hire companies are present at Olbia Airport, including Sixt, Budget, Avis, Hertz, National, Europcar, Alamo, Easycar, Thrifty and Auto Europa. Driving your own rented car is the best way to explore Sardinia, as most of the best beaches and more remote areas are only accessible by motorcar. All the towns and cities on the island are well connected by an excellent road network, and its easy to drive to all destinations. Even Cagliari, down to the south of Olbia Airport, is only 186 km from Olbia. Alghero is approximately a hundred kilometres away, and Santa Teresa Di Gallura, is about 43 km from the airport. Many smaller towns lie nearby as well, for example, Golfo Aranci, Baja Sardinia, Palau, Arzachena and Porto San Paolo.

Travelling by bus is another popular means of transport in Sardinia, and there is a bus service from Olbia Airport that travels frequently to the town centre of Olbia. Long distance coaches, such as those operated by ARST and Turmo Travel, take passengers to other areas of the island, for example, Sassari, Santa Teresa De Gallura and Cagliari.

Although there is a train station in Olbia, trains are not as widely used in Sardinia as they are on the mainland of Italy, as they are not connected to all areas of the island. However, passengers can travel by train to Olbia, and then catch the bus to the airport. There is no train station at the terminal building. There is one exception to trains in Sardinia, and that is the ‘Little Green Train’. This is actually a tourist train that only runs during the summer, and is a very popular attraction on the island. The Green Train is an old and restored steam engine that pulls wooden passenger carriages, and travels to all the more remote parts of Sardinia. Its journey takes you over bridges, through other railway stations and around some magnificent mountain gorges.

Passengers arriving at Olbia Airport can find out more information about tourism in Sardinia from the Infodesk Ciaosardinia in the arrivals area of the airport. For Olbia Airport Departures please visit these pages where from where all kinds of information is available.