Power Games In The Air

A couple of weeks ago, President Bauzá let it be known that he was unhappy with the national Ministry of Development because it had not responded to repeated requests from the Balearic Government for information from the ministry's "price observatory" regarding air fares for flights between the islands and the mainland. That the ministry and regional government are ruled by the same political party makes this reluctance seems particularly strange, not that party politics should play a part in information provision, but then maybe internal politics within the Partido Popular do explain why the ministry appears disinclined to part with the information. Bauzá, for all that he once appeared destined for greater things in Madrid, has fallen out with central office over specific policies - oil prospecting (three Balearic senators face party sanctions having again voted against prospecting) and financing of the Balearics via the system of tax redistribution - while he has long ceased to be on friendly terms with tourism, industry and energy minister, José Manuel Soria, and has also made himself unpopular with some powerful people in Madrid because of the treatment of Palma's mayor Mateo Isern, who is well regarded by these same powerful people.

When Balearic PP senators previously voted against a national government motion on oil prospecting, the secretary of state for industry, Enrique Hernández, accused Bauzá of "total disloyalty and irresponsibility" (Bauzá had instructed the senators to vote the way they did). The latest act of disobedience has induced Soria to wonder if it is "normal for a PP senator to vote for a proposal by PSOE". The public war of words over oil prospecting has been further ratcheted up by the regional government's spokesperson, Núria Riera, who has said that central government "doesn't understand anything" about the prospecting.

Lack of understanding has become a common theme of complaints by the regional government. Madrid doesn't understand Balearic opposition to oil prospecting, it doesn't understand the need for re-negotiating an improved financing settlement, and it doesn't understand specific requirements to do with transport connections. Bauzá's requests for air fare price information - he has dubbed the non-response from the Ministry of Development "informational opacity" - have been made because of what has been an increase in fares since the collapse of Spanair in January 2012. These fares are also subject to seasonal increases, such as over the festive period, and by as much as three times the regular fare. Moreover, the system of resident discounts creates an excuse to artificially inflate prices; the higher the actual fare, the more the airlines stand to receive from national government (the Ministry of Development) that funds the discounts.

This concern over fares and the ministry's apparent reticence in making information available can be placed in the context of the situation that has arisen regarding slots for inter-island flights. If one goes back to January this year and to the Fitur tourism trade fair in Madrid, there was a "pleasant surprise" for Balearics' representatives when Air Europa announced that it was opening immediate negotiations with the Civil Aviation Directorate-General (DGAC, which is within the ministry) to operate inter-island routes. It was to become a competitor to Air Nostrum but would have to abide by conditions of "public service obligation", meaning that it would have to agree to the number of flights and to ceilings placed on fares. In January, it was said that all that was needed for Air Europa to commence these flights was a nod of approval from the DGAC, though it wasn't until last month that the airline actually set out its proposal.

Since then, and as we now understand, Air Europa has run up against an obstacle, namely the rejection of 60% of the proposed slots by the combined forces of the ministry, the DGAC and the airports authority, AENA. Of the remainder, Air Europa claim, many do not fit in with how the airline had envisaged their scheduling. The president of Globalia, Juan José Hidalgo, of which Air Europa is a part, has added his voice to regional government ones in being unable to understand the attitude of the ministry. The airline may well, as a consequence, walk away from the project to increase inter-island flights, though it is also looking at a solution from a distribution of slots agreed by an association for slot co-ordination (made up of airlines and airports), which can, under European rules, determine slots independently of the government.

Is the situation with Air Europa, which is headquartered in Mallorca after all, an indication of more than just a lack of understanding by national government, caught in the crossfire of the tensions between Bauzá and Madrid and some sort of power game between the two? It would be perverse were this to be the case, especially as Air Europa is now, by some distance, Spain's leading airline under Spanish ownership.