Menorca-Barcelona: the route with the most passengers, but with the fewest frequencies

PalmVueling carries nearly a million passengers each year between Menorca and Barcelona, ​​but is cutting its flight frequencies because it claims the numbers don't add up. Even so, the route carries three times the traffic of the other busiest routes to Menorca Airport: Palma and Madrid, which handle close to 390,000 and 380,000 passengers, respectively. Both routes are maintained during the winter thanks to a subsidy from the Ministry of Transport, which declared them Public Service Obligations (PSOs) to guarantee the minimum necessary frequencies. Now, the unexpected reduction in connectivity with Barcelona—up to 36% compared to last year—has reignited the debate. Is the PSO the solution to protect the most essential air connection for Menorcans?

The Círculo de Economía (Circle of Economy) considers the Public Service Obligation "essential" to guarantee that the Barcelona route meets the needs of Menorcans—a demand they have been making for eight years. They already defended this in 2018 when, following the increase in the resident discount to 75%, Vueling raised its fares. But the Popular Party government in the Menorca Island Council disagrees. This was emphasized by the president, Adolfo Vilafranca, in response to the proposal recently presented by the Socialist Party (PSOE) in the institution's plenary session. "This is not the way forward, because the result could be even worse than what we have now," he said. Vilafranca bases his argument on the precedent of the Public Service Obligation (PSO) with Madrid, conceived with only two daily round-trip flights, which are entirely insufficient. So much so that, after years of complaints from users and administrations of different political persuasions, the new service, now put out to tender, requires a minimum of three flights between March 2, 2020, and 2027. The airline that takes over will receive €2.1 million from the State, 60% more than before.

"With the Public Service Obligation (PSO), we'll worsen connectivity," Vilafranca points out, recalling that the European Commission rejected the proposal promoted by the Ministry of Transport last year—a proposal agreed upon with the previous coalition government—deeming it "unjustified." Europe argued that there was no market malfunction and that the mobility needs of Menorcans were sufficiently met by the existing service. But connectivity has been reduced by a third since then, and the service now consists of only four to six daily flights.

Socialist councilor Eduard Robsy provides the key. "The route to Barcelona is essential for Menorca for work, studies, and health reasons. It serves as a connection to other destinations, but there are times of the year when Menorcans living there cannot return home. This need cannot be left in the hands of a single company [Vueling] that operates the route as a monopoly," he explains. Robsy disapproves of the company referring to its commitment to Menorca "as a social contribution." "We can't rely entirely on the goodwill of a company that hasn't always demonstrated it," he adds.

The effects of the reduced flight frequencies became evident just after Vilafranca returned from the Madrid tourism fair (Fitur) with the triumphant announcement that, for the first time, a Vueling plane would spend the night in Menorca every day to improve schedules and increase frequencies to Barcelona throughout the season. The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) highlighted the other side of the coin and denounced the reduction in frequencies that the airline had been implementing since December. "It's unacceptable," lamented the general secretary of the Menorcan socialists, Deputy Pepe Mercadal.

"Menorca cannot be trapped in the hands of a company that does whatever it pleases," criticizes the spokesperson for Més per Menorca in the Consell (Island Council), Noemí García. This representative is demanding that the Ministry "better explain the consequences of the winter monopoly" and that it press Europe to justify the need for a new Public Service Obligation (PSO). "Reducing frequencies so drastically isn't just a market problem. The Constitution mandates maintaining economic balance and territorial cohesion, and that's not happening here," she says. The Balearic Parliament reached a similar agreement in October, but there's no indication that the Government has taken any further steps to request the Public Service Obligation from Madrid. In Menorca, the People's Party (PP) did agree to explore other ways to incentivize connectivity on the Barcelona route. An agreement like this, still lacking concrete details, is the only one that has garnered unanimous political support on the island. Who should take the first step? The Council's president says that "the Spanish government," currently controlled by the Socialist Party (PSOE), should initiate talks. And the Socialists accuse the PP-led island government in Menorca of "not leading the way to a solution and not defending the island's interests" on such a strategic route for Menorcans.

The maritime alternative

The maritime route to Barcelona is also growing. While 947,848 passengers flew between Mahón and the Catalan capital last year, another 209,082 boarded at the port of Son Blanc (Ciutadella) and Drassanes to make the crossing to Barcelona, ​​in many cases in just three and a half hours. The connection with Barcelona accounts for a third of all maritime passengers in Menorca and 45 percent of air traffic. With or without public intervention, the route is becoming increasingly strategic. Demand continues unabated.