From Valladolid to the beaches of Cádiz in less than two hours. From Salamanca to the Royal riding school or the Sherry wine cellars of Jeréz in just over an hour. The airline company Lagunair, based in Castilla-Leon, plans to connect these cities with Jeréz in 2007. The success of the León-Jeréz service which began in 2005 has encouraged the company to expand its links with the province of Cádiz.

Although the flight times as well as the starting dates are yet to be finalised, Lagunair has put its faith in Holy Week as an ideal time to launch this route. Initially flights will run for only two months during the May-September high season, however, depending on the demand, this period may be extended.

Castilla and León have always shown interest in the province of Cádiz, particularly because of the attraction of its sun and beaches. However, distance and above all the total lack of travel options have until now been the main obstacles preventing more visitors from this region visiting Cádiz.

Nonetheless, in spite of these impediments, in 2005 36,172 visitors from Castilla and León chose to spend their holidays in the province of Cádiz, placing this community in fifth position with regards numbers of tourists visiting the province of Cádiz.

At present, Lagunair intends to fly twice a week to and from each of the two airports, as was the case with León which proved highly successfully.

The flight days of the new service are still to be confirmed as is the type and capacity of the aeroplanes to be used (the company has planes with 33 and 50 seats).

Fares and tariffs will be similar to those being applied to the León-Jeréz service, that is, less than 100 € return. Journey times, however, will be shorter, given that both Valladolid and Salamanca are further south and therefore closer to Jeréz.

Although Lagunair will only run the air service, a tour operator has already been in contact with the airline company to organize packages which will include travel, hotel and transfers.

The airline company contacted the Cádiz Tourist Board at Intur, the Interior Tourism fair which was held in Valladolid last November, showing interest in organizing presentations in these cities to promote the province of Cádiz as a travel destination. These will probably take place in March, a few weeks before the planned air services begin.

www.lagunair.com