Barcelona, February 23, 2021: Volotea evolves into a single fleet operator, in a move favouring the European manufacturer Airbus, through the early retirement of its fourteen Boeing 717 aircraft and their replacement by 15 to 19 Airbus A320s.

The fleet renewal is part of Volotea's review of its strategical, financial, and operational plans in the context of the crisis generated by the Covid 19 pandemic. The company has already sourced 15 A320s and will add up to 4 more based on last minute summer demand.

By becoming a single fleet Airbus operator, Volotea will benefit from multiple strategic and operational advantages, such as a single pilot license, lower maintenance costs, simplified scheduling, easier monitoring and auditing of all areas -specially safety-, and volume advantage in supplier relations. Other than being more economically efficient, the upgraded Volotea fleet will also be more environmentally friendly. Due to its larger capacity and more efficient engines, the new aircraft will significantly reduce the company's carbon footprint per passenger. Additionally, thanks to the custom fitted “vortex generators”, Volotea’s Airbus fleet produces less whistle effect on approach than the Boeing 717s, further reducing the noise impact in the cities and bases where it operates.

“We are very proud to move towards a 100% Airbus fleet. As a European company we are very keen to count on Airbus as our fleet partner long-term. We will continue growing on our strategy of connecting mid and small European cities, with a more modern and competitive aircraft type, the Airbus A320, that has 20-25% lower operational costs than the previous B717s it replaces. This increased competitiveness will be very necessary in a post-COVID environment, which may mean lower demand for the coming years. This change will also help us to be in the best position to take advantage of large new opportunities ahead, such as the one created in Spain through the acquisition of Air Europa by Iberia, and in France by the restructuring of France's regional market” said Carlos Muñoz, Founder and CEO of Volotea.

ABOUT VOLOTEA

Volotea was founded in 2011 by Carlos Muñoz and Lázaro Ros, previously founders of Vueling, and is one of the fastest-growing independent airlines in Europe, increasing year-on-year its fleet, routes served, and seats offered. Since its start, Volotea has carried more than 30 million passengers across Europe.

Volotea is based in 16 European mid-sized capitals: Asturias, Athens, Bilbao, Bordeaux, Cagliari, Genoa, Hamburg, Lyon (opening in 2021), Marseille, Nantes, Naples, Palermo, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Venice and Verona. Volotea currently flies to 90 cities across 14 countries and plans to fly to a new country in 2021 by opening routes to Algeria from France.

In 2020, Volotea signed an agreement with Bureau Veritas, a world leader in testing, inspection and certification, in order to verify the successful implementation of health and hygiene measures. Volotea is the world’s first airline to have its preventive measures against Covid-19 audited by Bureau Veritas.

Volotea is becoming a full Airbus carrier in 2021, by renewing part of its fleet with aircraft from the European manufacturer. The airline, which had planned to perform this fleet unification in 2023, has advanced its plans in order to improve its cost base over the next 2-3 years and increase its network offering, with aircraft that have a higher capacity and a longer flying range. The airline plans to operate a fleet of 35 to 39 aircraft in summer 2021 (versus 36 in Summer 2019).

Volotea employs over 1,350 staff across Europe and was the most active airline in Summer 2020 among its main competitors in seat occupancy, operational levels and customer satisfaction.

More info at www.volotea.com
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