05/08/2012 00:00
TW
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Palma.—The lack of winter flights between Palma and the United Kingdom has been one of the biggest headaches for holiday home owners, professionals based on the island and holiday makers during the winter, but it appears that this year, a growing number of airlines are prepared to take a gamble on Palma. Over the past few months, Monarch and British Airways' CityFlyer have confirmed they will be operating flights throughout the winter from Gatwick, Manchester and London City Airport.

But, yesterday easyJet announced that it intends to extend its seasonal service between Glasgow and Palma to a year-round connection. While there have been a scattering of winter flights to some parts of the UK during the past few winters, Scotland has been the biggest victim with next to no winter flights, so easyJet's decision will give Scots good reason to celebrate.

Summer flights were due to run until the end of the summer schedule on October 29 but they will now continue during the winter.
The extension means that the airline has almost 500'000 seats available across its network of 16 routes from the Scottish airport this winter. But, the ball now rests in the court of the Majorcan tourist authorities and hoteliers to make sure that the island is open for business this winter. Otherwise, those airlines which are going to commit themselves to a winter programme see no viable return on their efforts, they will simply think again next year Glasgow airport commercial director Francois Bourienne said: “Majorca has always been a popular destination from Glasgow airport and the feedback we have received from travel agents and customers, particularly those with second homes, is that the demand is there for scheduled flights during the winter months. “This is a great example of an airline taking into account the needs of its customers, identifying new opportunities and stepping up to the mark.”