The Government of Spain pays 319 million euros to airlines for resident discounts

The Ministry of Transport will pay this Tuesday 319 million euros to airlines for the subsidies on tickets for residents in the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, corresponding to previous years.

The deputy of the Socialist Group Milena Herrera has revealed in the Transport Commission of the Congress this payment of rights of 2024 and the "normalization" of payments to airlines.

Sources from the Ministry of Transport have explained to EFE that, after this payment today, about 300 million euros corresponding to 2024 are still pending payment.

According to the PP deputy Óscar Ramajo, the payment already executed does not solve the problems in the future, but is a "patch", so he proposes the approval of an extraordinary credit of 1,200 million euros to fully pay the debt of 2024 and cover the subsidy for this year.

The president of the Association of Airline Companies (ALA), Javier Gándara, warned last March about the possibility that some companies may reduce routes and/or frequencies if the Government continues to delay payments for compensations for residents in the non-peninsular territory.

According to his figures, at the end of March 425 million from 2024 were still to be paid and in 2025 another 1,250 million will accrue, while the General State Budgets (PGE) include an item of 560 million for this year, the same as last year.

In his opinion, it is not a management or administrative problem, but a lack of budgetary allocation by the Treasury.