Cagliari International Airport Elmas (CAG)

The Cagliari International Airport (CAG) located at Elmas, Italy close to Cagliari is the only international airport of southern Sardegna. It is a rather small airport focused on tourism and using it is pretty easy. The airport has a small selection of souvenir shops, bars and restaurants – but covers all your needs.

If you need a rental car you have to walk a quite long way to the left in front of the building towards the multi-storey car park. In front you will find a building where you’ll find all providers and can get a contract and car keys. What is a bit annoying is that the cars are at two locations: in the basement of the multi-storey car park (which is reserved for rental cars) and behind the car park.

We had to wait a bit longer for our car and the car park is really narrow. The first quest was how to get out of the car park: we found a card in a our car, but it was not accepted by the exit system. I then had to learn that the round light at the system is a sensor that works like a button. When you put your finger in front the system opens and issues a card. This card you’ll need to leave the airport grounds.

Getting gasoline was also a bit tough as most gas stations have automatic payment systems that didn’t accept my cards. I was therefore always searching for ESSO stations where you can walk in and pay by credit card. Next to the airport is an ENI gas station I didn’t try. At least you will be able to pay by cash there.

What really was annoying are the signs when you want to return the car. The “Rent a car” signs lead you to the Hertz car return station at the other side of the car park. And from there you can’t get into the basement of the multi-storey car park where most suppliers like Europcar take their cars back. Ignore the signs, drive directly to the airport. There you get an entry ticket for the car park which opens the gate to the basement. I had to drive three times around the airport to figure this out…

Cagliari International Airport Elmas
Via dei Trasvolatori
09030 Elmas CA
Italy