Corvera Murcia Airport has made steady progress since officially opening on 15 January and taking over from San Javier as the main civilian airport in the Murcia region.
As the first year draws to a close, routes continue to be added to the airport’s seasonal schedules, and officials report that their objectives are being met, albeit gradually.
Regional Operating Fee
Spanish national airport authority Aena will have to start paying the Murcia regional government an operating fee, after reaching a total of one million passengers passing through the Corvera terminal. This is the threshold at which the initial fee takes effect: €0.84 per passenger, for a total of €840,000.
Corvera Murcia is the only airport in Spain that Aena operates as a franchisee. According to franchise general manager, Mariano Menor, in an interview with La Verdad, Corvera Murcia Airport’s passenger traffic is around 10 per cent below that registered at San Javier in 2018, but 10 per cent above initiual forecasts when the Corvera contract was drawn up.
Binter Connections with the Canaries
In October, Binter began offering direct and regular flights to Las Palmas (in the Canary Islands) from Corvera Murcia Airport.
Operating twice-weekly, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, the approximately two and a half hour flights are scheduled to leave Las Palmas at 8am (Canaries time, one hour behind the mainland) and return from Corvera Murcia at 12.45pm.
The flights are on Bombardier CRJ 1000 aircraft, providing “high efficiency, reliability and performance”, according to Binter, and with capacity for 100 passengers.
Ryanair Flights to Mallorca
Ryanair is planning to reconnect Corvera Murcia Airport with Palma de Mallorca next spring and summer, from 29 March, according to a report in Murcia Economía.
In 2019 these flights started in June, three times a week (Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays); whereas in 2020 they will reportedly only be available on Thursdays (1pm from Palma and returning at 2.40pm) and Sundays (12.55pm and 2.45pm, respectively). This schedule is due to continue until 22 October.
TUIFly Links with Belgium
Corvera Murcia Airport is scheduled to have a new twice-weekly connection with Belgium from 4 April. Corvera already has two existing routes to Antwerp and Charleroi, and this third service will be connected to Bruges-Ostende – all operated by TUIFly.
The flights are scheduled to take off from Murcia at 9.45am and return at 1pm, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Located 33 kilometres from Bruges and five from Ostend, the airport services the third highest number of airline passengers in Belgium. Ostende is also TUIFly’s headquarters.
For information about other flights and airlines operating at Corvera Murcia Airport, click here.
