Volotea

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Volotea
Volotea.svg
IATA ICAO Callsign
V7 VOE VOLOTEA
Founded2011; 10 years ago (2011)
Commenced operationsMarch 2012 (2012-03)[1]
Operating bases
List of bases
Fleet size36
Destinations79
HeadquartersAsturias Airport, Castrillón, Spain (registered office)
Key people
  • Carlos Muñoz, CEO
  • Lázaro Ros, CEO
Employees1450
Websitevolotea.com

Volotea [bo.loˈte.a] is a Spanish low-cost airline registered in Castrillón, Asturias, Spain with bases in Spain, Italy, France and Greece.

History[]

Volotea was established by Alaeo S.L. from Barcelona, a company created by former Vueling founders, Carlos Muñoz and Lázaro Ros. The name "Volotea" originates from the Spanish verb "revolotear," meaning "to fly around."[2] It commenced operations on 5 April 2012, from Venice Marco Polo Airport.[3]

The company is backed by three private-equity funds, two of them from Europe (Axis Participaciones Empresariales and Corpfin Capital) and a third from the United States (CCMP Capital), whose chairman, Greg Brenneman, was one-time President and COO of the US airline Continental Airlines,[4] and also chairs Volotea's board. The company raised over €50m before operations began.[5] US CCMP Capital Partners holds 49% of voting rights; Axis and Corpfin Capital 25%; and Muñoz and Ros 26% along with relatives: this ownership has existed since foundation, but it could change before an initial public offering before 2021-2022.[6]

After studying the Bombardier CRJ1000 and the Embraer E-195 in 2011, Volotea selected the Boeing 717 after Southwest Airlines acquired AirTran and replaced its 717 fleet.[6] Boeing announced on 15 February 2012 that it had signed a long-term lease deal with Volotea for an undisclosed number of Boeing 717 aircraft.[7] In March 2015, it was announced that Volotea would receive a further four 717s from Blue1.[8] However, in November 2015, Volotea announced plans to phase out its 717 fleet over the next few years and replace it with Airbus A320 family aircraft.[9]

Volotea opened 90 routes in its first year, of which 40 were closed within two years; it operated almost 300 routes in summer 2018 including 220 openings, and this could double to at least 500-600 across Europe. Volotea has been profitable since 2014, a turnover of €360 million ($431 million) is expected in 2018 after $347M in 2017, carrying 5.7 to 6 million passengers, 50% being leisure travellers, 35% visiting friends and relatives, and 15% business travellers.[6]

Due to the 2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis, in 2017 Volotea changed the headquarters to Asturias Airport, Castrillon, Asturias, Spain.[10] As of June 2018, the airline has carried 18 million passengers since beginning operations in 2012.[11]

In January 2021, Volotea retired their last of formerly 19 Boeing 717-200s as the sole European operator of the type.[12]

In March 2021, a new route to Gibraltar from Bilbao was announced. Flights commence in July. Only Iberia Andaluz & GB Airways provided flights from Gibraltar to Spain.

Destinations[]

Volotea Airbus A319-100
A now retired former Volotea Boeing 717-200
Main article: List of Volotea destinations

The focus of Volotea's route network is on destinations around the European side of the Mediterranean coast as well as Western and Southern Europe. As of May 2018, Volotea serves metropolitan and leisure destinations mainly in Spain, France, Italy and Greece with destinations in Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Portugal.[13] Volotea served its first African destination (Tangier, Morocco) on 5 April 2019.[14]

Fleet[]

Current fleet[]

As of June 2021, the Volotea fleet consists of the following aircraft:[15][16]

Volotea fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A319-100 20 5 156
Airbus A320-200 16 0 180
Total 36 5

Historical fleet[]

Former fleet
Aircraft Operated Notes
Boeing 717-200 19 All retired in January 2021[12]

References[]

  1. ^ Drum, Bruce (31 March 2012). "Volotea starts charter operations". Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  2. ^ Baigorri, Manuel. "New Carrier Volotea Sets Up In Barcelona, Base Of Failed Spanair." Bloomberg. 15 February 2012. Retrieved on 12 June 2012.
  3. ^ "Venice launch for Europe's newest LCC Volotea; 76 routes planned this summer across 53 airports in 10 countries". anna.aero. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Right Away and All at Once: How We Saved Continental". In: Harvard Business Review on Crisis Management.
  5. ^ King, Amy (February 17, 2012). "CCMP, Axis and Corpfin back Volotea". unquote.com. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c Clark, Oliver (23 May 2018). "INTERVIEW: Carlos Munoz, chief executive, Volotea". Flightglobal.
  7. ^ "Boeing, New European Airline Volotea Agree to 717 Leasing Deal". boeing.mediaroom.com. February 15, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  8. ^ "Finland's Blue to offload B717 fleet to Volotea, Delta". Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  9. ^ "Volotea to phase out B717s in favour of A319s". ch-aviation.com. November 10, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  10. ^ "Volotea traslada su sede social de Barcelona a Asturias, donde tiene su única base en España" [Volotea moves its headquarters from Barcelona to Asturias, where it has its only base in Spain]. www.europapress.es (in Spanish). Europa Press. 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  11. ^ "Volotea celebrates 18 million passengers". TravelDailyNews International. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b Macca, Marco (2021-01-11). "Volotea: The End of The Boeing 717 in Europe". Airways Magazine. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  13. ^ "Destinations". Volotea. 2020-11-17. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  14. ^ "Volotea ouvre un Nantes – Tanger" [Volotea opens a Nantes - Tangier]. air-journal.fr (in French). Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  15. ^ "Volotea Airline Information". ch-aviation.com. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  16. ^ "Airbus Orders & Deliveries". Airbus. August 2021. Archived from the original on 10 September 2021.

External links[]

Media related to Volotea at Wikimedia Commons

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