No, we were mistaken about the headline, and this article explains it clearly. The complex engineering of air transport, the driving force that marks the economic and social heartbeat of islands like the Canary Islands, has left a trail of developments and adjustments in the final days of June that deserve the attention of the business sector. Between the comings and goings of Iberia and the emergence of charter operators during the winter season, a dynamic scenario is emerging that, as always, is not without its peculiarities.
The news that has been making the rounds in airport circles for days concerns Iberia's Montevideo-Madrid route. From June 16th to October 16th, the flight is not direct. The reason, for those who like technical details, is none other than maintenance of the long runway at Carrasco Airport (Montevideo). The use of the short runway forces planes to take off with less fuel, making a technical stopover essential. And where has the giant of the skies landed? Well, in Gran Canaria, to the relief and good fortune of island connectivity, even if for a reason beyond the airline's control.
The flight IB170 is scheduled to land in Las Palmas at 01:20 a.m., resuming its flight to Madrid at 02:10 a.m. This window of just under an hour, while a technical stopover, opens up a window of indirect connectivity, which is never too small on an archipelago.
But the route's history doesn't end there. After this stopover phase, the Montevideo-Madrid service will be adjusted again. Starting August 12, it will go from one daily flight to five weekly flights (Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). And on August 26, it will be expanded to six frequencies (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). Finally, on September 2, the route will resume daily operations, thus closing a chapter of temporary adjustments.
While Iberia navigates the challenges of the South American runways in Gando, the 2025/2026 winter season is already bringing good news for Gran Canaria with airBaltic. The Latvian airline, which has consolidated its presence in the archipelago in recent years, will operate two new charter routes aimed directly at key source markets: Inverness (Scotland) and Guernsey (Channel Islands).
Both connections will operate on Tuesdays, with schedules that allow for convenient operations. The Inverness flight (INV 14:50 PM - 19:40 PM LPA; LPA 09:00 AM - 14:00 PM INV) will operate from December 23 to January 27. Meanwhile, the Guernsey route (GCI 14:50 PM - 18:50 PM LPA; LPA 10:00 AM - 13:50 PM GCI) will operate from February 17 to March 17. These connections, although chartered, are further indicative of Gran Canaria's resilience and attractiveness as a tourist destination, especially during the winter season. Gran Canaria Cabildo Airport continues to operate. They are a living, breathing machine, constantly adapting, and these developments, from the operational contingencies of major airlines to the opening of new charter markets, are clear proof that the archipelago's pulse remains strong in the air.
Why does the airport belong to the Gran Canaria Island Council?
In the Canary Islands, where air and sea are the lifeblood of the economy, control of the infrastructure that connects them to the world is no trivial matter. And if we talk about Gran Canaria Airport, recent history brings us back to an old and entrenched dispute that, from time to time, rears its head to remind us who truly owns the land and, by extension, the future. I'm talking, naturally, about the standoff between the Gran Canaria Island Council and that gigantic and omnipresent public holding company, Aena.
The issue here is crystal clear for anyone who cares to see it: the land on which Gran Canaria Airport stands, that vital gateway to the island, is owned by the Island Council. It wasn't a sale, it wasn't a donation, but a transfer. A crucial nuance that, as often happens in the labyrinths of administration and power, has been diluted over time until Aena, with the complacency of many, has taken it as its own.
Aena, of course, doesn't want to hear about the possibility of Gran Canaria requesting the reversal of this transfer. Why? Because touching this bottom means touching one of the pillars of its peculiar business model. Gran Canaria Airport, along with other giants such as Madrid, Barcelona, and Malaga, is one of the major profit generators for Aena's network. Its accounts, its cash flow, its results, depend largely on these thriving infrastructures, whose revenues serve to subsidize and sustain the network of loss-making airports that Aena maintains throughout the rest of Spain. It is, in essence, a system of imposed solidarity that benefits the peninsular periphery at the expense of the island's driving forces.
The idea that Gran Canaria could regain control of its airport, perhaps with the help of the island's Chamber of Commerce, isn't the far-fetched fantasy of a few local romantics. It's a model that works in "evolved places," as some rightly point out. An airport managed locally, with an island-wide vision and not from the offices of Barajas Airport, could be a much more powerful catalyst for the local economy. But this, for Aena, is a nightmare come true. A Gran Canaria with autonomy over its main airport would be a shock to its financial statements, a hole in the cobweb on which so many depend.
It's no surprise, therefore, that authoritative voices such as the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country have urged the Gran Canaria Island Council to step forward and reclaim what is theirs. Because behind land ownership, there's not just a question of heritage; it's a question of economic sovereignty, decision-making capacity, and, ultimately, the possibility for Gran Canaria to manage its own destiny without the burden of having to pay other people's bills.
