FEASIBILITY STUDY BEGINS FOR AMBITIOUS ‘PORTA GOTTARDO’ CABLE CAR LINK BETWEEN AIROLO AND ANDERMATT

A major proposal to directly connect Airolo and Andermatt via new ski lifts has moved into its next critical phase following key approvals from the cantons of Ticino, Uri, and Graubünden.

As part of the regional Gotthard Programme (PSG), the three cantons have greenlit public financial contributions to fund a preliminary feasibility study for the ambitious project, known as Porta Gottardo.

Equal Public-Private Funding and Timeline

According to an official statement from the project's promoting group, the preliminary study will be co-financed equally, with costs split 50% by public bodies and 50% by private entities.

With contracts recently awarded, the study will evaluate the structural, commercial, and operational prospects of linking the Urserental and Leventina regions. Project leaders expect the study's conclusions to yield positive economic ripple effects across both the Three Valleys and the Surselva area, which is already linked to Andermatt.

Key objectives laid out for the study include:

• Four-Season Tourism: Transitioning the high-alpine corridor into a year-round destination.

• Sustainable Mobility: Creating integrated cable car transit that respects local environmental, landscape, and cultural heritage.

• Completion Date: Final results are scheduled to be delivered in early 2027.

The initiative follows a preliminary environmental and landscape impact assessment completed in 2025, which identified no critical barriers to development and cleared the way for the current feasibility phase.

Broad Cross-Border Consensus

The vision for Porta Gottardo has garnered widespread support from municipal governments, corporate entities, and civic organizations across both sides of the Gotthard Massif.

Concrete backing has already been confirmed by local administrations in Ticino, including the municipalities of Airolo, Bedretto, Dalpe, and Quinto. Commercial backing is anchored by Andermatt-Sedrun Sport AG and ERS-BV, both of which submitted formal letters of interest. Promoters are also maintaining active dialogue with the municipalities of Urserental as well as the local Patriziati (citizens' corporations) of Airolo and Ursern.

Mauro Pini, speaking on behalf of the promoting group, highlighted the collaborative nature of the initiative:

"We are delighted that the Porta Gottardo project has received such broad and concrete support from the region's institutions and economic stakeholders. The green light for the preliminary feasibility study represents recognition of the work done so far and, at the same time, the beginning of an even more important phase.

We will continue to cultivate an open and ongoing dialogue with all stakeholders on both sides of the Gotthard Pass, as well as with environmental associations, because it is precisely from this collaboration that the region's tourism and economic future will be born."