The air distance that needs to be traveled to go from the Canary Islands to the United States and Canada could soon be shortened. At least, that is what is expected after four airlines – American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Delta Air Lines and Air Transit – have shown interest in establishing direct flights with the Archipelago during the celebration of the 28th edition of the fair Routes World, which took place this Wednesday. There are two reasons why companies see business in the Canary Islands: because to date, only one flight connects the Islands directly with New York – the one that leaves from the airport of Tenerife South – and because more and more North Americans visit the Canary Islands through stopovers.
Although the Ministry of Tourism clarifies to this newspaper that new routes with the United States and Canada have not yet been closed, the managing director of Tourism of Canary Islands, José Juan Lorenzo, has advanced that the feasibility of launching them “in the winter season” is being studied. And the flight between Tenerife South and New York, operated by the United Airlines company, is barely operational during the summer: between June 8 and September 26.
North American companies see the Archipelago as a destination with guaranteed success because every year there are more citizens Americans who decide to visit the Islands, most of them through stopovers. North American visitors staying in regulated establishments in the Canary Islands from January to August 2023 were 36,913, 26% more than in the same period of 2022 according to Istac. Of those travelers, only 6,780 took the direct flight from New York to Tenerife operated by United Airlines, while the majority arrived with a stopover in Madrid or Lisbon.
As for visitors from Canada, they also grew by 45% between January and August of this year compared to the same months of the previous year, going from 5,124 Canadians to 7,442. In this case, tourists arrive to the Islands through routes such as those of Binterwhich make a stopover in the Azores through an agreement with the Portuguese airline SATA Azores Airlines.
The majority of North Americans arrive to the Islands with stops, which means taking longer
The Archipelago’s interest in Routes World is not so much in “increasing the quantity of connections but, above all, in increasing their quality.” It is for this reason that Canary Islands Tourism is prioritizing the acquisition of direct flights, which on the one hand “They improve the travel experience of visitors”, since travel time is reduced, and “they also reduce CO2 emissions.”
In addition, the Islands maintain the distinction of the best destination in Europe in attracting air routes that was awarded to them by the airlines at the Routes Europe 2023 meeting, held last May in Poland. This title recognizes the merit of the Archipelago for having 741 routes operated by 53 airlines that connect with 149 airports. In addition, for this winter the Canary Islands have 9.6 million places scheduled, 7.6% more than in 2022.
The Archipelago will have 9.6 million beds this winter, 7.6% more than in 2022
The public company team also met with numerous European companies, including Transavia, Vueling, Air Baltic, Wizz Air, Volotea, easyJet, Lot Polish Airlines, Tap Portugal, Turkish Airlines, Jet2.com and Condor Airlines. Some meetings in which the call for the Flight Development Fund exclusively for The Palma tool endowed with 1,325,000 euros with which Turismo de Canarias aims to strengthen connectivity with the Island.
