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Formentera reiterates its sea and air connection problems

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After numerous meetings, letters and conversations with the Balearic Government's Counsellor of Tourism, Carlos Delgado, and the Ports and Airports General Director, Antonio Deudero, the Formentera Council's Office of Mobility is finding once again that the island is in a complicated situation with regard to travel by sea and air for Formentera residents.

For this reason, the Formentera Island Council has requested that the Balearic Government carry out the necessary legal proceedings and negotiations to find a solution to the lack of connections - by both ship and plane – that the population of Formentera faces.

Background
In light of the fact that the Decree laying out a special regime for the provision of maritime transport between the different islands remains to be passed, and this after the approval of Law 11/2010 on the Regulation of Maritime Transport in the Balearic Islands, in which the Eivissa-Formentera route was qualified as having strategic interest, the regulation of such issues as fares, trip frequency, and merchandise agreements has remained an impossibility.

On 15 August 2011, the extension signed between the Balearic Government and the Trasmapi company on the 6 am Eivissa - Formentera service expired. This agreement was first signed in August of 2007, with subsequent extensions to the service until 2011.

This sea connection ensured that Formentera residents with tickets for the first morning flights out of Eivissa had a method of transportation without having to spend the previous night on the other Pitiüsa island. After a number of negotiations held in 2012 with the boat transportation companies, a 7 am journey was successfully established that allowed for arrival at the Eivissa airport in time to take the 8:35 am flight to Palma de Mallorca (main connection for travel outside of the Balearic islands). This air route was subsequently cancelled, leaving only 7:30 and 8:15 am flights. For the first of these two flights, on-time arrival for Formentera residents leaving home that same morning was impossible, and for the second, extremely difficult. Any other delays or problems similarly implied the loss of flights.

Upon request by the Formentera Island Council, the General Direction of Ports and Airports of the Balearic Government was able to push back the departure of this flight from 8:15 to 8:35 am, in this way making it possible for Formentera residents to reach the connection in time.

We are once again faced with the very same problem, the Eivissa – Palma flight having returned to its 8:15 am slot. The only flight that Formentera residents can safely reach is the one at 9:45 am, a fact that implies missing an extremely high number of secondary connections. Arrival before 11:00 am at any public office, meeting, or business obligation is also impossible.

The Council of Formentera wishes to belabour this point once again before the Govern, and reiterate that due to this fact, Formentera's connection problems will be steadily aggravated, remaining at the mercy of airlines and Eivissa – Formentera boat companies.

Moreover, despite accords with the boat companies establishing 9:00 pm and 7:00 am departures, these do not stand in for the vast array of services still required by Formentera residents. Loss of plane connections remains a serious problem, as does hospital visitation for people with family and friends at the UCI, and absence of transportation alternatives for those in educational courses that end at 9:00 pm.

We reiterate that in the case of Formentera, whose situation has taken on a sort of triple isolation, issues related to maritime transportation take on vital importance for island residents. Our current situation, in which connections in transportation have been massively reduced, is not only greatly detrimental to residents but represents a serious economic setback for our local businesses, who are less and less able to compete on the same level with the rest of the Balearics.

Media

Gabinet de Premsa


971 32 10 87 - Ext: 3181
premsa@conselldeformentera.cat