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Is this the end of Madrid and Barcelona flights from Corvera?

The end date for the flights to Madrid and Barcelona from Murcia are in sight, with the Regional Ministry of Tourism stating that the continuation of these routes now depends on the airline

The flights from Corvera Airport to Madrid and Barcelona, which were introduced by Volotea in December 2023 as part of an agreement with the Region of Murcia government, may soon come to an end as the agreement period runs out.

Tickets for these routes are currently on sale only until March 3, 2025 for Madrid and May 28, 2025 for Barcelona, as indicated by Volotea’s website.

The Regional Ministry of Tourism has confirmed that these connections have brought 47,603 passengers in 14 months, according to its latest data. Of those, 15,651 travelled to Madrid and 31,952 to Barcelona, averaging 3,357 passengers per month.

Now, however, with the originally agreed period for these flights from Murcia to Spain’s two biggest cities coming to an end, the decision on whether or not to continue offering these routes lies in the hands of the airline.

“These links, like all other airport connections, depend on the company’s commercial decisions,” a spokesperson from the Regional Ministry of Tourism explained, adding that they “remain committed to maintaining and expanding Corvera airport’s connectivity with destinations of interest for tourism in the Region of Murcia”.

The same holds true of international destinations, too, as ultimately it is only the airlines themselves who can decide to add new flight routes or offer increased frequency for existing routes if they are deemed profitable enough and there is shown to be enough interest, in the same way that they remove routes where there is not enough demand to make it worth their while financially.

That is the main reason why there are so few flights – both international and domestic – in and out of Corvera Airport in winter.

The Regional Ministry of Tourism is now seeking to separate the Madrid and Barcelona flights from the original contract signed between Volotea and the regional government, which was a marketing contract for a 12-month period, valued at €2.4 million.

In 2024, Volotea had its best year, financially, of all time, netting an estimated €35 million in profits, and is now looking to take the company public on the stock market.

According to the Ministry, the contract focused solely on promoting the Region of Murcia as a tourist destination in Madrid and Barcelona, two key domestic markets. This included advertising campaigns in both physical and digital media.

The agreement officially concluded last December, but whether or not the flights will continue beyond March or May of this year remains to be seen.