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According to figures released by the research department at Promotur Turismo de Canarias, expected tourist numbers for this winter season, depending on market demand, are looking positive. Regular airline capacity is up 9.1 %, with a total of a further 711,000 additional seats available.

Following a summer season in which programmed regular flights slipped back 2.4 %, these latest figures foresee a positive winter period. There will be 480,000 new seats for international visitors, while there will be 230,00 new places for those travelling in from mainland Spain. These numbers reflect the continual efforts made to promote the Canary Islands and to keep them in the minds of airline companies so they are included in their route plans.

International markets

The British market, which was hit by the folding of Monarch in October 2017, is gradually recovering. This is evidenced by the 2.6 % increase for this winter compared to the same period last year, although connectivity is still 6 % down due to the problems with the airline. Besides this, the uncertainty surrounding a deal on Brexit before 30th March 2019 is another barrier to airlines committing to this market. Even so, the sale of tourist packages for this winter is up 11 % for Mediterranean destinations and 6 % for the Canaries.

In the case of the German tourist market, despite the loss of Niki in December 2017, numerous airlines are competing to take its place, and programming indicates an increase of 12.6 %, partly due to efforts made by companies such as Eurowings and the recently created Laudamotion. In this sense, this interest on the part of other airlines to fill the gap left by the closure of Niki has led to this winter’s connectivity levels to be well above those to have existed previously. However, it is possible that this situation of over-supply of seats may become unsustainable for the companies themselves in terms of profitability, meaning their capacity may slip back somewhat.

Also, the French market will experience and a significant jump, with a 34 % increase in available seats. This increase responds to the efforts made by Easyjet with the two new routes they have set up that will join Fuerteventura with Lyon and Tenerife Sur with Nice, with the backing of the Flight Development Fund. Volotea meanwhile has established new connections between Marseilles and Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, and from Bordeaux to Lanzarote. Alongside the opening of six new routes by Smart Wings to Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Tenerife, the market is slowly moving away from a high dependence on tour operator activities.

A special case is the Russian market, which presents a growth of 145 %, with 31,000 more seats due to the increase in weekly flights by Aeroflot connecting Tenerife South with Moscow, following the same route set up by S7 Airlines, which has been running since this summer.