The Balearic government is to officially ask the national ministry of development to set maximum fares for flights from the three Balearic airports to the mainland. Given the increases in fares since the residents' discount went up, the government wants there to be stable prices and an application of the principle of public service obligation transport. Within the framework of this obligation, there would be a maximum fare dependent on the route.
Transport minister Marc Pons explained yesterday that the setting of such prices is a state competence that needs approval by the European Union. Such a measure is necessary, he insisted, because of the "apparently fraudulent practices" by some airlines. He stressed that a majority of operators are not engaging in these.
Pons was speaking after a meeting with the Balearic association of travel agencies. The association's own study indicates that 70% of airlines are "respecting prices". However, some "low-cost" operators are "distorting prices in order to improve their results", which in turn benefit from public subsidies.
The government is wanting an urgent meeting with the ministry of development and is waiting on the receipt of a joint report about pricing from the airports authority Aena and others. Meanwhile, the government's director for consumer affairs, Francesc Dalmau, is encouraging travellers to denounce airlines to his department if they believe their rights have been violated. Since 2016, the department has opened 26 proceedings against airlines and fined them some one million euros.