Summer postal problem rears its ugly head

The Balearic post office bosses are considering taking urgent action in order to resolve the problems in getting post to Ibiza and Minorca. The cargo restrictions of the turbo-prop planes operated by Air Nostrum between the islands is causing a massive build up of post bound for Minorca and Ibiza in Palma and some of the sacks of post are being left abandoned for hours at Palma airport until space is found on the island-hopping planes. The problem has been getting worse for the past few weeks and on some days, when there has been some 3'000 kilos of post for the two islands, just 300 kilos has been airlifted and delivered, while the rest stands idle at Palma airport. Post office chiefs in Palma are trying to resolve the situation as soon as possible, before a serious backlog of correspondence builds up in Palma. The problems in Minorca have been building up for some time. Once on the island and at the Mahon sorting office, there have been increasing difficulties with getting the post bound for Ciutadella to its destination before lunchtime and in some cases people were not receiving their post until around 6 pm. It is hoped that the arrival of the new Balearic airline AeBal, which is part of the Spanair group, which will increase flights between the islands, will help to ease the problem.