March passenger numbers at Balearic airports increased three per cent compared with last year and so reversed a downward trend in arrivals since last October.
In Palma there were close to 1.6 million passengers (arriving and departing). This figure from the airports authority AENA is usually a reliable indicator of actual tourist numbers each month, not of course that all passengers are tourists. For March, these won't be published until the start of May.
Much has been made about boosting the winter season, but for 2025/2026 there were falls in tourist numbers from November to February. There was also a decrease in October. In Mallorca specifically, there was a very slight increase in December. There were fewer tourists in each of the other months.
What the March airport numbers may indicate for the main months of the year remains to be seen. April arrivals are expected to be up. Forecasts for the summer are for numbers much the same as in 2025 or a touch higher.
All of this is subject to the conflict in the Middle East, which could see diversion to western Mediterranean destinations such as Mallorca. Equally, there is the matter of the potential impact of increases in the cost of travel.