Airlines' winter schedules start in the final week of October and extend until the final week of March. For Palma Son Sant Joan Airport, the programming is currently for a 6.1% increase in flights for the 2022-2023 season compared with 2019-2020 and an 11.1% increase in the number of seats.
The AECFA Spanish association for the coordination of slots indicates that 42,153 flights are scheduled at present, compared with 39,722 three years ago, and that 6,511,467 seats will be available; there were 5,859,685 in 2019-2020.
The president of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation, María Frontera, has said that the number of hotels that will be open over the winter season is above that of 2019-2020 - some 25%. "However, everything will depend on the situation and variables that affect our main market, Germany."
The information from AECFA shows that 31 airlines will operate at Palma and serve 64 airports. These numbers are slightly down on previous ones, attributable - it is said - to the rise in fuel prices and the war in Ukraine.
Ryanair has scheduled the most flights, followed by Vueling, Air Europa, Air Nostrum, Eurowings, Iberia Express, easyJet, Lufthansa and TUI Fly. The international airports with the most traffic to the island will be Cologne, Berlin and Gatwick. Barcelona and Madrid will have most of the national traffic.
The airports authority Aena, while welcoming the anticipated volume of traffic, point outs that there is nevertheless a very high level of uncertainty regarding the final months of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. The war and inflation, Aena notes, will influence travel to Mallorca and to other Spanish destinations.