Tour operators are providing alternative destinations to holidaymakers booked to go to Greek islands affected by devastating wildfires (Corfu, Evia, Rhodes) as well as to the Antalya area of Turkey, which has also been affected. Mallorca is one of these destinations. Others are the Spanish Costas in Andalusia, Catalonia and Valencia.
It is said that diversions to Mallorca and elsewhere will be available over the next ten days. In Mallorca, there is hotel capacity to absorb more tourists, while the airports authority Aena and the air navigation company Enaire are creating additional slots at Palma Son Sant Joan - these are off-peak, first thing in the morning and last thing at night. As it is, Palma is already close to its maximum, with 1,000 or so flights per day scheduled for the coming weekend.
Pedro Fiol, president of the Aviba travel agencies association in the Balearics, says that no destination wishes to receive holidaymakers who are being diverted under these circumstances, his counterpart at the coach operators association, Rafael Roig, echoing his sentiments: "We hope that destinations affected by forest fires recover as quickly as possible."