On June 3, 2022, United Airlines will operate the inaugural flight between New York-Newark and Palma de Mallorca. The booking situation is said to be so good that competitors are examining whether connections from the USA to the Spanish Mediterranean island will also be included.

According to United Airlines, the first round should be fully booked in both directions. The carrier's network is also a great advantage, as many passengers use feeder flights from Los Angeles and Miami. This also draws the attention of the competition, because American Airlines and other US airlines, for example, are checking non-stop flights from the two cities to Palma de Mallorca.

United Airlines is obviously satisfied with the market success achieved with the Newark-Palma route even before the first flight. You seem to have had a lucky hand in choosing the route. It wasn't possible without help either, because the local tourism association in the USA is heavily promoting vacations on Mallorca. The tour operator Tui Spain offers numerous package tours with United Airlines flight segments in the United States. The demand is said to be surprisingly high for the tour operator, so they have increased where possible. On a small scale, package tours to the USA with departure from Palma de Mallorca are also offered on the Spanish market.

Success in aviation is not granted, but "copied"

"Copy and paste" is a phenomenon in aviation that is almost commonplace. If a provider is successful with a concept, an idea or a route that didn't exist before, it doesn't take long for someone to follow suit. Well-known examples of this are paid checked baggage or paid catering on board. Especially on holiday routes, routes that are going well are often “doubled” by the competition. This is exactly what major US carriers like American Airlines and other providers are checking for Palma de Mallorca. What's going well with United Airlines from Newark could also be a box office hit with others from Miami and/or Los Angeles, especially since the company obviously knows the passenger flows of the competition even better than its own.

Andreu Serra, tourism officer on Mallorca, assumes that a domino effect has been triggered. What is meant is that other airlines, which previously had not thought of adding long-haul flights between the USA and Palma, are now in a hurry to fly as quickly as possible. It is hoped that tourism can benefit from this, because after all, the United States of America is a huge source market. In the past, due to the lack of non-stop flight connections, this only played a subordinate role. The official is satisfied with the results so far and hopes that other airlines will soon - at least seasonally - fly between the USA and Palma.

Mallorca wants to get away from the alcohol image

The latest developments also fit very well with the changed strategy. For a number of years, people have wanted to get away from the "booze image" that was particularly shaped by the most important source market - Germany. This goal is intended to be achieved through numerous restrictions. For example, the motto "all inclusive = everything you can drink" is no longer allowed. Hotels are only allowed to serve limited amounts of alcoholic beverages at certain times. Also, "bucket parties", especially for which Playa de Palma was once known, are no longer possible in the original form. The price level has also risen sharply, so that the so-called "clientele" has increasingly moved towards Varna. The Balearic tourism wants to present itself as a vacation spot for families and would prefer not to let the "drunk vacationers", with whom one has earned a lot of money for decades, on the islands, primarily Mallorca.

The loss of the now "no longer so desirable" tourists should be compensated, but if possible not with guests from cruise ships. You want to open up new markets that have hardly played a role so far. They are starting with the USA and are also keeping an eye on Canada, because they are said to already have a significant number of bookings via Newark. That could be expanded and at least the dream of non-stop flights from Canada to Palma de Mallorca is anchored in the minds of those responsible for tourism.

United Airlines flights are currently only seasonal. But Tourism Director Lucía Escribano does not hold back on wishes, because United Airlines and other carriers who are said to be interested in "imitation" would have approached them with the wish that they should fly at least between May and the end of October next year. This year, the United flights are scheduled to end at the end of September 2022, but the last word has not yet been spoken, because the carrier can imagine that an extension could be given if the success continues.