The Spanish government plans to ban domestic flights with a journey time of less than 2,5 hours if a rail alternative is available. The project is under the guise of environmental protection, but there is a catch because only point-to-point connections are supposed to be affected.

Flights between the mainland and the islands and between the islands should not be included in the proposed ban, as ferries are the only alternative due to the lack of rail. The Spanish ban is intended to mainly affect domestic flights on the mainland and there is a catch. At first glance it seems that in the future commercial flights with passengers will no longer be allowed if the flight duration is less than 2,5 hours and a rail alternative is available.

In fact, you only want to ban point-to-point connections. Low-cost airlines such as Ryanair, Volotea and Vueling, but also Iberia, are well represented in this segment. In the future it will depend on where the passengers want to go, because purely feeder or connecting flights should continue to be permitted. In other words: Ryanair is no longer allowed to fly from A to B, but Air Europa and/or Iberia are, as long as they - at least officially - have transfer passengers on board.

The proposed ban on domestic flights with a flight time of less than 2,5 hours would therefore be a rather populist measure, as in practice network flights are not affected at all. The plan is by no means fixed, because the government led by Pedro Sánchez only has to prove itself in office on November 27, 2023, because on that day Parliament will vote on the formation of the new government.

Then it will also become clear whether race tracks like Madrid-Barcelona will be a thing of the past in the future or whether they will be continued. According to the current plan, these would no longer be permitted as point-to-point shuttles, but would still be permitted as a feeder or connecting flight for those transferring.