Mallorca airport is out of control

Cap on flights to Palma and the other two Balearic airport to help ease the tourism footprint.

Demands for flight reductions in the Balearics. | Photo: Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter

Humphrey CarterPalma09/05/2025 10:01

If the minority centre right Partido Popular Balearic government is to be believed, Palma airport is out of control and it wants central government to put pressure on airport authority Aena, in which Madrid is the majority shareholder, to put a cap on flights to Palma and the other two Balearic airport to help ease the tourism footprint.

How ironic. For years, former Balearic governments and Palma city councils called, demanded, a say and a stake in the management of Palma airport on the simple grounds that the local community knows the interests of the islands best. But it all fell on deaf ears because it would hit Aena’s massive, obscene profits.

And now, the PP is calling on the Spanish government to order Aena to curb the increase in flights to the islands’ airports during the peak season, because tourist capacity has reached its “maximum limit”.
There is also the issue of airport operating fees to factor in as they have led to Ryanair, for example, pulling out of a number of Spanish airports and threatening to cancel even more routes if Aena does not reduce its rates. Plus just think of the emissions, never mind the cruise ships.

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4 comments

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Zoltan Teglas | 7 days ago

What moron decided to reduce the number of gates where you scan your boarding pass? This will be chaos in the summer. But don't worry, as you'll have a whole floor of shops to buy overpriced tourist crap when the work is finished.

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oouoo oouoo | 7 days ago

GWhat about the 50,00 families from North Africa and South America that have made Mallorca their home somehow, within the past 8 years Never the elephant in the room that stays always the Tourist that goes home the problem

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In Palma | 8 days ago

Aena is doing a fantastic job. Palma airport is one of the airports in Europe and Americas with shortest queues. With the new fantastic security machines where computers and liquids do not need to be separated, it becomes even better. Probably room for increasing flighs and passenger numbers by 50% or more.

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G | 8 days ago

Thank god that this is finally being discussed. A cap on flight or an airport curfew would solve a lot of the islands problems. Follow the Iceland model. Limit tourism by limiting the airport.

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