One of Air Europa‘s Boeing 737 aircraft has been named after Lanzarote’s multidisciplinary artist César Manrique, a native of the island. This is one of the actions that the airline will carry out to promote the easternmost island of the Canary Islands and where it has enhanced connectivity with the mainland, with a 15 percent increase in the number of flights and 15,500 more seats in relation to 2022.
At the ceremony held for the christening of the plane, which was held at the Adolfo Suárez airport in Madrid, the CEO of Air Europa, Jesús Nuño de la Rosa, was present, as well as the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, and the CEO of the Society for the External Promotion of Lanzarote, Héctor Hernández; the representative of tourism promotion of Turismo Lanzarote, Marcos Medina; the president of the César Manrique Foundation, José Juan Ramírez; the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, José Valle Martínez; and the Marketing Director of Air Europa, Rafael Brull.
Currently, the airline has a total of 644 flights between Lanzarote and the mainland, with an offer of almost 120,000 seats for the year 2023. Also from June and throughout the summer season, Air Europa will connect Lanzarote with Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela, respectively, as reported by Air Europa in a press release.
The new route between Lanzarote and Barcelona will be inaugurated on 26 June and will operate twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays. In addition, two days later, the connection between Lanzarote and Santiago de Compostela will be opened, which will maintain a weekly frequency on Wednesdays throughout the summer.
The route between Lanzarote and Bilbao will also be added, which will maintain the current three weekly frequencies, as well as the route between Lanzarote and Madrid which, from mid-June, will double its frequencies from two to four a week.
They point out that at the Madrid-Barajas hub, all passengers have a “fast and perfect” connection with the European and transoceanic destinations where Air Europa operates.
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, thanked the airline for increasing connectivity between the mainland and the island, pointing out that the figure of César Manrique is the “most relevant in the recent history” of the island.
He added that his “work and thought are still very much alive and are of such importance that it is not possible to understand Lanzarote without his contributions, so he is a source of inspiration to face the challenges” that the island has ahead.
“We are very happy to celebrate a day like today in which the name of Air Europa will be linked to that of César Manrique” said Jesús Nuño de la Rosa, who assured that the company feels very identified with the environmental values that the artist always showed off”, pointing out that proof of this is the “constant fight” that they are carrying out for the future of decarbonisation, the commitment to a “sustainable fleet and efficiency in each” of the processes.
Finally, for the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, José Valle, this christening has a “great significance” for the island and for the artist himself, as the plane will bear his name in the skies around the world representing Lanzarote, stating that he is “very grateful to the Cabildo for having accepted the proposal and to the César Manrique Foundation for their collaboration”.
