ARCHIVED - Flights from Corvera airport to Bilbao and Santander to begin in July

Activity gradually returns to the Murcia airport with more domestic services on offer than in previous years

The level of activity at the Region of Murcia International Airport in Corvera is gradually beginning to pick up again after practically grinding to a complete halt in the first four months of 2021 and all of 2020, and it has now been confirmed that in early July it will be possible to fly directly from the Costa Cálida airport to Bilbao and Santander on the Atlantic coast of northern Spain.

This year the tourism sector is expecting the summer campaign to be saved by domestic tourism and the emphasis is firmly on attracting Spanish residents from other areas of the country and persuading them to visit Murcia.

Traditionally the San Javier airport, which then closed to make way for Corvera airport, has always  relied heavily on the British market, and in the past up to 86 per cent of flights to the airports have been to and from the UK.

The Covid lockdown and continued reluctance of the UK government to relax international restrictions, has obviously impacted on traffic through the airport since the pandemic began, and this year the regional tourism board has decided to focus its efforts into the domestic market; the market for second residents of little interest until restrictions are relaxed.

The airline Volotea is offering 6,000 seats for sale on the services to each of the two airports being incorporated onto the arrivals and departures boards at Corvera, making the company the most important operator of domestic flights at the airport. Apart from Bilbao and Santander there are also flights scheduled between Murcia and Gran Canaria, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, Oviedo (Asturias) and Menorca.

The newly confirmed flights between Corvera and Santander and Bilbao will operate from July to September – pandemic permitting, of course – after the Menorca service begins on 23^rd June, and the Asturias service is already up and running.

Volotea’s domestic flights at Corvera are available on the following days of the week:

Barcelona - Fridays and Sundays

Santander – Tuesdays and Saturdays

Bilbao – Thursdays and Sundays

Menorca – Tuesdays and Fridays (as of 23^rd June)

Asturias - Wednesdays and Saturdays

At the same time, of course, international travel is also gradually restarting, and over the summer Corvera will be connected to the airports of Charleroi, Antwerp and Bruges in Belgium and various locations in the UK: Ryanair have scheduled services to and from Birmingham, Bournemouth, Glasgow and Manchester while Easyjet will be carrying passengers to and from London and Bristol once their services resume in July.