21/09/2013 00:00
TW
0
STAFF REPORTER

PALMA
UNIONS, airlines, government institutions and passenger associations which go to make up the Regional Air Transport Board sent a very clear message to Central Government yesterday, totally rejecting any cut in the 50 percent air travel discount afforded to Balearic residents.

Gabriel Vicens, the President of the Board and regional Minister for Transport, has insisted that Spain's Minister for Public Works, Jose Blanco, bear the viewpoint of the Balearic government in mind before taking any decision on cutting the discounts.

Vicens was explicit that he would brook “no going back” in terms of the cost of inter-island flights and connections with the mainland for European Union residents in the Balearics.

Earlier in the week, Blanco had claimed that just 20 percent of passengers from the Balearic Islands used 41 percent of Central Government air travel subsidies, but Vicens retorted yesterday that the Minister should “be specific about what he means” by having quoted these figures. Vicens added that if Blanco does decide to make any cuts, he should make it clear how much benefit he is going to remove and when he is going to do it. Vicens suggested that the Minsiter had “not been properly informed.” Vicens said that all groups going to make up the Regional Air Transport Board had agreed that their message to Central Government should be unequivocal, i.e. that the 50 percent discount remains in place. Vicens said that people in the Balearics were often forced to pay high ticket prices because they were the only ones available, so that it would be a real “injustice” if travellers were deprived of the discount. Vicens said that he had spoken with his counterpart in the Canary Islands about Blanco's proposals and that the same concerns were being expressed there too.

Such was the seriousness of the situation, that Vicens took it upon himself to convey the alarm over the possible cuts direct to the Minister. Blanco apparently said that “all the issues will be addressed in due course.” Damia Borras, the representative for the Council of Minorca on the Regional Air Transport Board said that if cuts were made, the social repercusssions in the Balearics could be far-reaching.