From this Friday, TIB will reactivate its 11 summer routes to improve transport links during the tourist season in Mallorca. This was announced on Thursday at a press conference by the Regional Minister for Housing, Territory and Mobility, José Luis Mateo, the Director General of Mobility, Lorena del Valle, and the Manager of the Mallorca Transport Consortium (CTM), Lluïsa Serra.
The reactivation of these specific routes for the high season will be in addition to the usual service boost provided by the TIB during the summer months. These are the 231 Puerto Soller-Alcudia, 324 Can Picafort-Alcudia, 422 Cala Mesquida-Cala Rajada, 423 Font de Sa Cala-Cala Rajada, 424 Cala Rajada-Porto Cristo, and 427 Cala Mendia-Porto Cristo. Also the 501e Campos–Palma Express, 515e Cala d’Or–Palma and 411e Cala Rajada–Palma.
Added to this will be the addition of 14 new buses to the fleet, which will bolster some of the routes connecting the island’s main tourist areas in the east, north and west regions. Route 204 Puerto Soller-Palma will increase its frequency and capacity thanks to the addition of a bus over 15 metres long with 53 seats.
From Friday, the route will offer 38 daily services in both directions, with five additional outbound journeys and five additional return journeys, representing a 15% increase compared to the current service and last summer’s timetable. This will reduce waiting times in most time slots, from the current 30 minutes to 25 minutes.
In the west, route 401 Cala Millor-Palma, which currently operates with ten buses, will increase its capacity with the addition of four 18-metre vehicles with 75 seats. The service connecting the north with the capital via route 302 Can Picafort-Alcudia-Palma, which currently operates with 11 buses, will increase its capacity with the addition of five 18-metre vehicles, each equipped with 75 seats.
Route 104 Magalluf-Palma will increase its capacity with the addition of two 18-metre buses, each with 57 seats. The Aerotib A11 Camp de Mar-Airport service will add a further 18-metre bus with 57 seats, providing greater capacity and increasing the service by four additional journeys in each direction compared to last summer. In this area, there will be an additional 18-metre bus to reinforce the entire west service.
Also in the municipality of Calvia, route 103 Santa Ponsa-Palma will add three more departures from Monday to Saturday, increasing from 39 to 42, and four more on Sundays and public holidays, increasing from 29 to 33. In addition, the timetable will be extended and a final departure at 01.00 from Santa Ponsa will be added. A new stop will be added in this town, incorporated into the route of line 106 Nova Santa Ponsa-Palma.
The Aerotib service, which connects the airport with the main residential areas and coastal zones, will also be included in the summer timetables. Thus, the A33 Port d’Alcudia–Airport and A43 Manacor–Airport routes will extend their routes and increase services with the launch of the A32 Can Picafort–Airport and the A42 Cala Bona–Airport. In the Migjorn area, the A51 Campos-Airport route will continue to operate with more departures, and in the west, the A11 route – which starts in Peguera during the winter – will begin its journey in Camp de Mar from Friday onwards.
The remaining summer routes will resume during April and May. On 24 April, the 428 Cala d’Or–Porto Cristo and the 521 Cala d’Or–Cala Mondragó routes will start earlier than planned. On 1 May, it will be the turn of routes 131 Santa Ponsa-Banyalbufar, 325 Alcudia-Cala Rajada, 323 Alcudia-Alcanada and 327 Alcudia-Estany Petit, whilst on the 15th of the same month, route 425 Cala Bona-Porto Cristo will commence. Route 334 Alcudia-Formentor will bring forward its start date to 15 May, the day on which vehicle traffic restrictions are due to begin, and will run until 15 October.