Operators will recover 78 routes this summer in the Balearic Islands which were lost due to the covid pandemic in the summer of 2020, increasing the connectivity of the airports of Ibiza, Menorca and Palma de Mallorca by 41% with respect to last year’s season, with 270 routes scheduled this summer. Although this summer campaign will be a big step towards the recovery of connectivity, pre-pandemic levels will not yet be reached. Specifically, 83% of the routes served in the 2019 summer season are scheduled to operate. In Spain overall, this summer the airlines will recover up to 80% of the routes served in the 2019 summer campaign, with the return of 376 additional routes, to reach almost 1,200 destinations. Although airlines have made progress in the recovery of destinations, there is still some way to go to reach the connectivity of pre-COVID-19 times. Approximately 300 connections are still required to reach the number of the pre-pandemic summer season, when almost 1,500 routes were operating in our country, according to the activity data of the 13 airports that concentrate 90% of the air capacity scheduled this summer in Spain.
Although this summer campaign will BE a big step in the recovery of connectivity, pre-pandemic levels will not yet be reached
The President of the Association of Airlines (ALA), Javier Gándara, has valued the work and effort of the airline industry to recover these connections and the capacity for readaptation and resilience of a sector that was forced to practically stop its activity when the first State of Alarm was decreed, with barely 5% of flights remaining for the transport of medical equipment and repatriation.
“The airlines have not ceased in efforts to recover air connectivity and resume the connections that were lost as a result of the absence of air traffic due to the closure of borders, in some cases, or mobility restrictions, in others“, said Gándara.
The president of ALA has highlighted the importance of air connectivity which benefits the structuring and territorial cohesion, and is essential for social welfare and economic development to enable trade and tourism, generating wealth and employment. In short, it contributes to equal opportunities between countries, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Crucial in pandemics
The importance of air connectivity has been highlighted even more in this health crisis, as it has been crucial for the transport of health material and for the repatriation of citizens. In the first State of Alarm alone, 750 repatriation flights and 590 medical cargo flights were operated and more than 1.4 million vaccines have been transported by airlines to date , demonstrating the value of connectivity and the contribution of air transport to the social well-being and health of people.