Palma Airport can accommodate two million more passengers

If the plan is approved, Palma Airport will be able to handle almost 36 million arriving and departing passengers per year. In 2025, 33.8 million passengers passed through the airport. This is reported by Majorca Daily Bulletin.

According to airport director Tomás Melgar, the expansion is primarily about being able to meet demand that already exists.

- We manage flows; we do not create them, he says.

The statement comes amid the political debate in Mallorca over how tourism should be limited. Melgar believes that it is primarily airlines’ traffic decisions and the number of available tourist accommodation beds that determine how many visitors the island receives.

- We do not decide how many tourist beds there are in Mallorca or how many flights the airlines want to sell, he says.

The expected approval of DORA III follows the Spanish government's decision last week to block a Balearic law on increased regional influence over airport operations. The regional government has argued for such joint decision-making as a way of limiting tourism.

The regional government has also faced criticism for focusing on the airport. Critics argue that the Balearic Islands already have the ability to influence the scale of tourism by limiting the number of tourist accommodations.