This week will see Binter Canarias, the Canary Islands’ airline, launch several new international routes. On Thursday, the airline will launch a route to Lille, France, from Las Palmas. Over the following days, several more routes to France and Italy will be added to the airline’s regular network.
Earlier this year, Binter announced it would expand its network, having previously operated mainly regional flights. The airline is based in the Spanish Canary Islands, with hubs on Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Most of the airline’s operations focused on connecting the island archipelago to other Atlantic islands, the Balearics, as well as mainland Spain and Portugal. The airline also operates a few flights to Western Sahara and Morocco. Now, it’s increasing its European destinations.
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New flights to Europe
On Thursday, the airline will operate its first flight to Lille, France, from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Two more French destinations will also launch this week to Marseille and Toulouse. Routes to Venice and Turin are also set to launch over the coming weeks.
The flight to Lille will operate on Mondays and Thursdays, departing Gran Canaria at 10:45 local time. The return flight will leave France at 16:40, arriving back in the Canary Islands at 20:00. The flight to Toulouse will operate on Tuesdays and Saturdays, departing the Islands at 10:30 on Tuesdays and 11:00 on Saturdays. The route to Marseille will only operate once a week on Fridays departing the Canary Islands at 10:30 with the return flight taking off at 16:10.
The flights to Italy will also operate twice weekly. The route to Venice will be served on Mondays and Wednesdays, while the flight to Turin will operate on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
A growing network
According to a statement from the airline, these new routes will mean the airline has 96 weekly connections to national and European destinations with more than 600,000 seats available every year. The flights will be operated by the airline's five new Embraer AE195-E2 aircraft. The new jets mean Binter has one of the youngest fleets in Europe. The fleet of 28 aircraft has an average age under five years.
As well as increasing international destinations, the airline is strengthening its intra-island network. The airline will now operate over 170 daily connections between the many islands in the chain. In the case of connecting flights, island hopping with the airline is free of charge.
The airline is also upping to connections to mainland Spain and Portugal until September 30th. In a statement regarding the network expansion, Bitner President Rodolfo Nunez said,
“This new international leap represents a great challenge for Binter in a very complex context, but we continue to bet on the connectivity of the entire archipelago, of the eight islands . . . The important thing is to sell all the Canary Islands as a whole.”
With many Europeans looks to get some sun while remaining close to home, the airline’s expansion may have come at the perfect time. Clearly, the airline expects a good summer season and is targeting European leisure travelers. Now offering flights to 26 destinations outside the Canary Islands with brand new aircraft, Binter could have a busy few months.
What do you think of the airline’s growth? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.