German market crashes

Passenger figures at Palma airport last month took an alarming nose dive. Airport authority sources confirmed yesterday that passengers figures were down by 21.26 per cent, compared to April 2001 and the number of flights also fell by nearly 16 per cent. The decline in April is the sharpest of the year. In January passengers fell by 12.40 per cent and by just under ten per cent in February. March, saved by Easter, posted a two per cent increase, but the past four months have witnessed an overall drop in passengers of 11.18 per cent in comparison to the first four months of last year. April's figures have shown that the bottom has fallen out of the German market, the number of German passengers crashed by 35.59 per cent. The Spanish market is down by 13 per cent. The only market to have posted an increase is the faithful British market, the number of British passengers at Palma airport last month was up by five per cent in April last year. But the Brits will be able to compensate for the huge decline in Germans again this year.