Bring on the no frills

I always get slighly concerned when I read about governments and the European Union getting involved in transport, especially airlines. I think it must be all the red-tape and my fear is that it will end up costing us money. So I read with concern reports that the European Union had decided to give inter-island flights around the Balearics and to the mainland special status which will allegedly lead to cheaper fares. In other-words they will be state sponsored. Until recently it was cheaper to fly to Manchester from Palma than to Mahon. The whole government process reads like an airline timetable. Starts in Palma, then Madrid then Brussels and return. I just don't understand why the local authorities haven't taken the easier option which at the end of the day would be cheaper and much more effective. The days of flag-carrying airlines flying state sponsored routes are over, it smacks of monopoly and anti-fair trading. The best thing to do would be to open-up the inter-island routes to the no-frills carriers. Introduce competition and let the airlines which have revolutionised the industry give the bigger carriers a run for their money. I know for a fact that one no-frills airline was looking at the possibility of doing a quick flight to Mahon and Ibiza from Palma instead of having its plane parked on the runway at Palma while it waited for the passengers on the return-leg to Britain. I am a great fan of Minorca and I would go more often if flights were cheaper. The whole process at the moment is more difficult than booking a flight to New York especially if you live outside Palma and want to get your residents certificate for a discount ticket. Give the no-frills airlines a chance, they are serving Majorca well at the moment and have revolutionised the Balearic tourist industry.