Fuerteventura tourism association joins call to protect Canary Islands flights
Tourism associations want action on airline costs and continued promotion funding as preliminary figures point to fewer seats on Canary Islands flights in summer 2027.
Fuerteventura tourism association Asofuer has joined other Canary Islands industry groups in urging the Spanish government to seek European measures to protect air connections, as airlines plan fewer seats to the archipelago for summer 2027.
Preliminary figures from the public company Turismo de Islas Canarias show that airlines have scheduled 455,320 fewer seats for the season, a fall of 3.4% compared with the previous summer. Scheduled capacity from the UK is down 4%, while the figure for Germany is down 9.1%. The schedules may still change.
The associations are also asking groups in the Canary Islands Parliament to maintain at least the current level of tourism promotion spending during scrutiny of the 2027 budget. They argue that reduced flight capacity could mean fewer European visitors, with consequences for businesses, employment and tax revenue.
Proposed measures on flight costs
Asofuer and the associations FEHT Las Palmas, Ashotel and Asolan want Spain to negotiate with European institutions over measures to address the effect of rising aviation fuel costs on the islands’ connections. Their call follows the position taken by the Canary Islands Government’s tourism department.
The groups propose a temporary moratorium on sustainable aviation fuel requirements at European-regulated departure airports serving flights to the Canaries. They also want an existing exemption from the obligation to surrender CO2 emission allowances extended to all flights bound for the archipelago. The exemption currently covers connections between the Canaries and the rest of Spain until 2030.
The Airline Association has warned that the accumulation of costs could affect airlines’ competitiveness and air connections. The industry groups say some fuel-price hedges expire in 2027, leaving airlines more exposed to market prices.
Tourism promotion budget
The associations also want Canary Islands administrations to maintain promotion spending and strengthen work with airlines and tour operators in their main visitor markets.
The draft 2027 regional budget allocates €36.3 million to Promotur once funding for its new professional sports sponsorship remit is excluded. On a comparable basis, that is 24.4% less than in 2026. The groups want the budget to reflect their promotion priorities and negotiations with Spain and the EU to begin while there is still scope to influence next summer’s flight schedules.