The government wants to cap flight prices between the Canary Islands and mainland Spain

The Minister of Transport for Spain, Raquel Sánchez, confirmed today (Wednesday) that the Government is working on a pilot project to analyze whether a ‘public service’ obligation can be established on any of the routes between the Canary Islands and mainland Spain so that they can establish a maximum price for tickets in the face of rising prices.

She explained that the establishment of a maximum rate can only be done by articulating a public service obligation and that "it may have the undesired effect that leads to a decrease in the number of seats available."

For this reason, she has appealed for caution when evaluating and analyzing the possibility of establishing a maximum price in this way, but insisted that "concrete measures" will be taken.

The prices of flights to the mainland have risen by an average of 18%, but have gone up by 45% on some routes, meaning that the 75% subsidised Canarian discount is having a minimal effect and is going on the bottom line of large airlines.

In addition to committing to "adopting whatever measures that are necessary", Sánchez pointed out that "it was this government that in 2018 increased the subsidy for residents in the price of tickets from 50 to 75%."