Air fares from Spanish islands rise nine-fold as travellers chase quarantine deadline

Exclusive: Ryanair Mallorca-Manchester prices soared from £12 to £107 in just two hours

Going fast: Ryanair fares from Palma (pictured) to Manchester have increased nine-fold in two hours (Simon Calder)

Fares from Spain’s Balearic islands to the UK have soared as holidaymakers seek to beat the latest quarantine deadline. Prices for two Ryanair flights rose nine-fold in two hours.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, announced that arrivals from Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca who have not been fully vaccinated by the NHS will need to quarantine on return to the UK – unless they get home by 4am on Monday 19 July.

An hour before the announcement, Ryanair’s morning and evening flights from Palma de Mallorca to Manchester were priced at just €14 (£12).

An hour afterwards, Europe’s biggest budget airline was charging almost nine times more: €125 (£107).

Saturday’s mid-afternoon British Airways flight from Ibiza to London Heathrow was priced at €133 (£114).

Within two hours, the same departure had risen to €255 (£220) – an increase of 92 per cent.

On the last easyJet departure from Menorca to Gatwick before the deadline, easyJet has just three seats left at €138 (£118) – about two-thirds higher than the pre-announcement fare. Passengers are scheduled to arrive at the Sussex airport at 10.30pm on Sunday.

The airline’s chief executive, Johan Lundgren, hinted that easyJet may move more planes abroad. He said the carrier “continues to see good booking momentum for its intra-European flying and will continue to flex our capacity in line with where we see demand”.