Resident travel discount is not in danger

The socialist MP said that on 8 April, the Congress Transport Committee approved a PSOE Socialist amendment to incorporate a provision into the new Navigation and Air Safety Law that will allow outstanding payments to airlines to be brought up to date.

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The government will contribute 319 million euros to cover the 75 per cent subsidy for tickets for residents of the Balearics to fly to the mainland. ‘It seems incredible that the PP does not know that the solution has already been in place for two weeks,’ said Herrera, reiterating that the controversy generated by the PP is “absurd and useless” and “only seeks to confuse the population”.

Last month, The Airlines Association (ALA) said that the government owes 810 million euros to the airlines that operate routes to the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla to cover for the 75% discount for island residents. According to the airline industry association, these companies could be ‘forced’ to stop operating some routes or to reduce frequencies in the face of this ‘unsustainable situation and economic suffocation’, it warned in a press release.

Furthermore, ALA fears that this debt will rise to 1.5 billion this year with the General State Budget (PGE), to which these discounts are charged if the government does not take action. According to ALA, the airlines act as ‘mere intermediaries’ when it comes to the discount, acting as collaborating entities of the administration in accordance with the established regulations and automatically applying the discount percentage to residents and settling with the administration, in this case the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) once the passenger has made the trip.