Palma de Majorca Airport

I have lived in Palma for the last year or so and used the airport frequently. I agree that this brand-new terminal is spacious and well-designed. The only too often long distance involved in getting to your departure gate is pleasantly shortened though efficient moving walkways. The airport is conveniently located near the city and cabs are plentiful. The bus option is equally convenient and certainly cheaper although it should be noted that buses are not entirely reliable when it comes to getting to/from the airport either early in the morning or late in the evening. Negative aspects include: The blunt inadequacy of the existing catering facilities in the departures area. These are basically limited to two (twin) self-service outlets with a more than limited and certainly overpriced range of products. Tables are scarce and dirty. one often has to remove what others have left before. The only existing restaurant is poorly located at one end of the terminal and consequently often passes unnoticed by the traveller. The standards of cleanliness can be much improved. The otherwise pleasant relaxing open-air area is often found in appalling conditions with rubbish and bird droppings scattered all over the place. The retail facilities are small and unattractive. The perfume bar is normally crowded and rather inconveniently located at one end of the duty-free supermarket selling groceries and other stuff which is rather off-putting during the perfume-shopping experience. Non-smoking regulations are bluntly ignored by both travellers and staff alike. The only two existing passport and security control areas often mean that the traveller faces a rather long queue. The arrivals halls are cold and depressing. The low concrete ceiling creates an oppressive atmosphere. As in many other airports in Spain smokers automatically light their cigarettes the moment they get here when smoking is theoretically not allowed in this area.

I used PMI airport as my destination from Miami in June 2004 and the comments here are accurate. PMI is a large well-designed very modern and almost spotless airport well-designed for handling the more than 19 Million Passengers per year the third-busiest in Spain and placing it in the top 15 airports in Europe. My only complaints are the large and unorganized crowds in front of the security checkpoints (could learn something about crowd-handling from Disney) and for those unwary passengers the baggage carts do not have brakes and there is this steepish incline in an area. I can imagine one letting go even briefly at this point and having your cart rapidly roll away.

This new airport is a very large indeed and some gates are a very long way from the baggage reclaim hence the efficient and long moving walkways. Overall its very clean and efficient with most importantly plenty of space. With the hundreds of holiday charter flights evry day during the season it's necessary to find somewhere quiet to chill out. It's possible here. Check-in is well signposted and relatively speedy and the choice of shops is good. There's a nice open air section in the departure lounge where you can get a quiet last bit of sun before boarding! cabs are plentiful and it's pretty close to Palma centre.

Recent investment appears to have been well spent turning this holiday-oriented airport into a light spacious well-organised and welcoming place that seems well-geared to cope with the large numbers of Spanish domestic and mainly German British and Scandinavian visitors from overseas. PMI is just 6 km from the centre of Palma and a regular bus service (Route 1) provides a cheap alternative to taxis.