Spain Announces Airport Tax Freeze For 2010

Airport taxes will be frozen from 2010 the Spanish Government has announced. Spain's minister for public works José Blanco has said the move was devised to help stimulate the economy.

In a further initiative, the minister said discounts, which currently apply to travellers to the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands and Melilla, will be increased to 30 per cent. Francisco Alaya opposition member of the People's Party insisted that the government's initiative was too late and should have been introduced this year. Mr Alaya also noted it is discriminatory to apply the taxes just to selected islands.

The Canary Islands are a favorite destination for expatriates and holidaymakers alike and this will greatly help the tourist industry. The news comes after several airlines annouced increased flights to the Canaries.

Monarch Expands Canary Island Flights To Gran Canaria And Fuerteventura

Monarch airlines are to start a new Canary Islands year-round service to Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura .

Flights to the Canary island destinations will run from Birmingham, Gatwick, Luton and Manchester airports. One flight a week will operate to Gran Canaria from Birmingham and up to two flights a week will operate from London Gatwick and Manchester from October 19.
One flight a week will operate to Fuerteventura from Birmingham, Gatwick and Luton and up to two flights a week from Manchester from October 21.

Flights have gone on sale via the airline’s website for travel until March 27, 2010, with fares including taxes starting at £52.99 one way. The introduction of services to Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura brings the total number of flights operated by Monarch to the Canary Islands to up to 64 a week, with almost 500,000 seats available this winter - a 32% increase on last year.

Monarch flights and holidays managing director Liz Savage said: "We are delighted to be expanding our network to the Canary Islands with the launch of scheduled flights to Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura in addition to our existing routes to Tenerife and Lanzarote.“We are seeing huge demand for our mid-haul destinations - in June we carried 59% more customers to Lanzarote and 16% more customers to Tenerife compared to June 2008 and the addition of Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura means even more people can take advantage of our low fares and award-winning onboard service to these popular sunshine islands this winter.

Source Phil Davies