Flight capacity to Canaries from Palma to be tripled

THERE is a certain affinity between people who live on islands but for years if those in the Balearics wanted to travel to the Canaries (or vice versa) there were no direct flights meaning a change of aircraft on the mainland and often a not inexpensive stopover.
Airlines are now however very alert to business opportunities and the fact that aircraft that aren’t flying are costly in both ‘parking fees’ and leasing charges means that some of the larger players are introducing direct flights between the two areas.
Back in 2018, Binter, a regional subsidiary of Iberia which operates out of all airports in the Canaries introduced flights to and from Palma to Gran Canaria and Tenerife on relatively small aircraft but their success has now encouraged both Iberia and Ryanair to commence their own services.
According to the President of the Association of Travel Agencies in the Balearic Islands, Xisco Mulet, capacity is going to almost treble between the groups of islands from the 500 passengers a week carried by Binter to nearly 1,500 when the other two airlines join in.
As there has been little incidence of coronavirus in the Canaries and the weather is traditionally pleasant without being overly hot, it seems likely that those living in the Balearics who are looking for a winter break will be likely to take advantage of these new flights.
Ryanair will offer two flights a week between Palma and Gran Canaria whilst Iberia will mirror Binter with flights to both Gran Canaria and Tenerife also twice a week.
Apart from the fact that Binter do operate inexpensive flights to every island in the Canaries, they also fly to such tourist destinations as Cape Verde and The Gambia as well as Madeira and much of Portugal although foreign travel will mean compliance with coronavirus testing.
It certainly makes sense in these difficult times for airlines to review their destinations and offer new options for travellers, especially as so many of the Spanish mainland destinations are currently in some form of lockdown or with inter municipality travel forbidden.
As there has been some increase in the cases of virus in Mallorca, there may be some future restrictions on travel but as things stand today, it should be perfectly possible to take advantage of flights to the Canaries and many may consider this an ideal spot for a Christmas holiday break.
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