He says he owes “zero” but the airlines demand 300 million

The Minister of Transport, Oscar Puentehas resorted this Tuesday in the Senate to what the sector has called a “accounting trick to ensure that the debt of his department with the airlines for the money they advance so that the residents in the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla have a 75% discount on the price of tickets is equal to “zero”. On the contrary, companies They still claim 300 million of the year corresponding to 2025, which the Ministry still does not recognize as such because it is still verifying that this debt exists and, meanwhile, it does not consider it as such.

“The accumulated debt of the Government with the airlines is zero“Puente assured in the Senateduring the Government control session in which the PP senator Christopher Marquis He has been asked about a matter that, in particular, this year has been a cause of tension and even warnings from the air sector to Transport that they would have to reduce frequencies or routes if the advances were not paid. “What is the debt accumulated with the airlines for the resident discount and when do you plan to pay it in full,” the senator wanted to know.

Puente’s response is that the debt is equal to “zero”, but sources in the airline sector remind that there is still 300 million remain to be paid corresponding to the fiscal year 2025. It would be the last item – for now, until it begins to be accounted for in 2026 – that would remain to be paid, after the Ministry has settled the debt of 800 million corresponding to 2024, through various payments that it has been making throughout this year. One of the last, of 320 million that were introduced into the Aviation Safety Law through an amendment by the PSOE and the Canarian Coalition.

“So far this year, we have already paid 975 million euros and when it is finished the amount will exceed one billion,” Puente has assured about the system through which companies such as Binter or Iberia those who fly to the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands or the autonomous cities advance the 75% discount on the ticket price that they make to the residents and then the Ministry reimburses them.

Stretch the settlement procedure

In addition to ensuring that at this time nothing is owed to the airlines, Puente has alluded to the “liquidation procedure” stipulated in a 2021 law which, in the eyes of the sector, is where the “trick” used by the minister lies. According to the procedure, he stressed, the mere presentation by the airlines of the supporting documents for the advance bonuses “does not automatically generate an obligation”, That is, it does not mean recognizing the debt at that moment. This does not happen until “it is submitted to verification by the General Directorate of Civil Aviation” and it gives the green light.

Through this procedure, what was common until recently was that the debt was in a short time and the companies received their refunds within 90 days, a time that has now been extended because, they say in the sector, there are no budget items updated, due to the absence of the General State Budget for another year and at a time when resident trips – and, therefore, bonuses – continue to increase. In this way, if the Ministry extends the deadlines for recognizing the debt, as a prior step to paying it off, Puente can say that at this time “zero” is owed. But that does not mean that the airlines that fly to the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla still lack 300 million for what they advanced in 2025 in the 75% bonuses on the price of tickets for residents.