Ernesto Bertarelli lands in Olbia as the Monaco Grand Prix caps the Riviera window

Ernesto Bertarelli flew from Geneva International Airport to Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport on June 5, a 1-hour-10-minute hop aboard his Bombardier Global 7500, HB-JIT. The short airborne time masks the operational weight of the destination: Olbia sits 270 kilometers south of Nice, and serves as a frequent alternate for principals whose primary target is the French Riviera during the 26-day Cannes-Monaco window that runs through June 7, per [transworldjets.com](https://transworldjets.com/insights/riviera-window-cannes-monaco-2026/).

Bertarelli’s arrival coincides with the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix weekend, now shifted to June 5–7 under the FIA’s 2026 regional grouping calendar. The same analysis notes that Nice Côte d’Azur’s parking slots are fully spoken for and that helicopter transfers from Nice to Monaco—Monacair alone operates up to 160 flights a day on race Sunday—are effectively locked by early June. Olbia, with its long runway and strong FBO, gives Bertarelli a staging point to transfer to a yacht in the Maddalena archipelago or helicopter onward to the Riviera, keeping his aircraft out of the Nice parking surge.

Bertarelli, an accomplished yachtsman who owns the America’s Cup-winning Alinghi syndicate, has made Olbia a recurring destination in his flight patterns alongside Gstaad, Geneva, and the French Riviera. The June 5 trip follows a May 30 flight from Sardinia to Switzerland and a May 28 leg from London to Olbia, suggesting the island functions as a seasonal base for Mediterranean sailing and conservation work tied to the Bertarelli Foundation’s marine programs.