The campaign for more winter flights between the UK and Majorca appears to be winning.
Earlier this week, Monarch confirmed that it will be operating two weekly flights from Gatwick and Manchester throughout the winter and bringing flights from Leeds Bradford and Birmingham on line earlier in time for Easter, now Ryanair is also going to be operating a winter service.
Earlier this year, Ryanair bosses told the Bulletin in Palma that, unless airport authority AENAwas prepared to freeze or reduce airport taxes during the winter, flights were not viable.
However, yesterday, Ryanair confirmed that it is going to be basing two aircraft in Palma this winter and one of its new off season routes is going to be two flights per week between Palma and Birmingham.
As yet, easyJet has yet to confirm its winter service but the carrier is expected to continue flying from Palma to Gatwick and Stansted while CityFlyer will continue its winter service from London City Airport to Palma. However, while it appears that England and Palma will be well connected this coming winter, there is still little interest in reestablishing a regular service to Scotland.
The Bulletin has contacted the Scottish government, but the official line is that it is up to the airlines, not the government, however, the Bulletin intends to challenge the Scottish authorities, which own Prestwick Airport, about this over the coming weeks.