Inter-island air accessibility and territorial cohesion in the Canary Islands

This paper makes a study of the current door-to-door accessibility of inter-island air transport as an element of territorial cohesion in the Canary Islands. The methodology used makes a diagnosis considering several key aspects: frequencies, seat availability, door-to-door rates and their impact on the profiles of travellers with the highest demand. In the same way, the schedules that, together with the transport times, provide us in the destinations with a final hourly availability for the traveller, all in a round trip and in the same day. We conclude that accessibility has improved considerably in recent years, but there is a lack of time availability for travellers in some destinations, imposing high extra costs for them, an aspect to which little attention has been given, since the studies have only focused mainly on airfares. In summary, there is a territorial integration deficit, especially for residents of the islands of El Hierro and La Gomera, which must be corrected by the administration, extending the operating hours of the airport infrastructures, and also by the airlines, also expanding their hours of operation.