Winter flight have always been a hot topic so the recently announced addition of more direct winter flights is a big positive for Ibiza. EasyJet has added direct connections to Milan Malpensa to their winter timetable while Vueling are adding to their existing Paris Orly to Ibiza route. This compliments the existing schedules of Transavia’s direct flights to Amsterdam and British Airways very popular route between Ibiza and London City.
It signifies a further shift by low cost carriers looking for new international winter routes and is great news for Ibiza residents who can now get away for a few days without the need for a stopover. Less than 10 years ago there were very few direct winter international flights so momentum is finally building in the right direction and moves the Island towards being a bonafide winter destination.
Ibiza is amazing in wintertime, in fact it’s probably one of Europe’s best kept secrets. It’s completely different from summer but with a fantastic climate, heaps of culture, plenty of culinary options and outdoor pursuits its a great winter option and now more people than ever before will have the chance to sample it.
Meanwhile the peak season situation with taxis isn’t improving with long snaking queues appearing in the press and social media along with stories of unanswered telephone calls and lots of frustration from tourists wanting mobility on the island. To be fair this mainly applies during the peak hours before and after dinner but the sight of baffled tourists standing on the roadside waiting for non-existent white taxis to pass by is now a daily staple.
There’s simply not enough taxis during peak hours and is a situation that shames an island reliant on tourism and the need to move those tourists around in the months when many local businesses make the majority of their annual income. After 2 years of relatively low numbers there was always going to be a big bounce-back and its clear that the authorities were unprepared to find a solution.
As is usual with these things there are lots of factors involved including licensing issues, self protection from taxi unions and complicated regulation including the local government’s insistence that taxi drivers must take a day off per week but none of this is relevant to a family of 4 who just want to get to their 9pm dinner reservation with the minimum amount of fuss in the summer heat.
Unfortunately there appears to be no short term solution for the lack or taxis during the peak summer weeks so for now its a matter of being as organised and as patient as possible or alternatively come back in the winter on a direct flight when there are more taxis than you will ever need.
"MAN IN SAN AN" by Martin Makepeace 