Arriving in Madrid before ten o’clock in the morning from November onwards is an almost impossible mission. The end of the season and the closings of the nightclubs leave the islanders quite isolated for another year, especially from the capital. If an Ibicencan or Formenteran has to travel to Madrid on a quick trip to go to the doctor or to do some business, it is practically impossible to do so without having to spend the night in the city. With the extra expense that this entails .
As of November 1st, Tuesday is the only day on which there is an early morning flight to the capital. At 8:05am a Ryanair plane departs from es Codolar. From the second week of November there is one at nine o’clock on Friday and another at 9:15am on Thursday. “It is curious that there is only an early morning flight on Tuesday, which happens to be the day that the island’s politicians travel to Madrid,” says one of those affected by the reduction of routes at the end of the season. Every week he has to make several express trips to Madrid for work and a few days ago, when he went to get the tickets for November he stumbled upon the unpleasant surprise.
On Mondays, for example, the first Ibiza-Madrid of the day is not scheduled until after noon (Ryanair, 12:30pm) and on Wednesday, even later: an Iberia plane takes off at 13:35pm. Thus, neither Monday nor Wednesday is it possible to go and return to Madrid in the same day. Fingers crossed that there will be no delays. In addition, on Wednesday not only does the first flight take off later, but the last return flight leaves earlier: at 8:05pm.
Anyone needing to get to Madrid on a Monday or Wednesday early in the morning has no choice but to make a stopover. Although in view of the prices, including resident discount, it is not very clear whether it is more profitable to pay for a night in a hotel or the connections.
Early morning flights and connections to Madrid
On Mondays and Wednesdays it is possible to land in Madrid at 10:40am, not particularly early, but still between three and four hours earlier than with the first direct flights. To do this, you have to take an Iberia flight that takes off from Ibiza airport at half past seven in the morning to Palma and there take the one that at a quarter past nine leaves for Madrid. The price of this combination has fluctuated slightly throughout this week and varies greatly depending on whether you fly on Monday or Wednesday. In the first case, the price has remained above 159 euros while if you fly on Wednesday the price is around 90 euros.
The difference in connections to Madrid between now and November is abysmal. Next week there are two flights every day that take off from Ibiza before ten o’clock in the morning: one by Ryanair at 8:35am and another of Iberia at 9:25am.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.