Volotea, the airline of small and mid-sized European cities, shared its summer activity report for the Greek market today. Despite a season once again affected by the COVID 19 crisis, Volotea achieved good results this summer. The airline transported over 400,000 passengers between June and August, representing a 136% increase on the same period last year.

With a second summer season impacted by the pandemic, Volotea has reworked its strategy and adapted its offer to new customer demands and expectations. This summer, the airline operated three new routes and offered 480,000 seats, increasing its capacity by 119% in comparison with last summer. A 95% load factor was achieved for the more than 2,900 flights operated from June to August.

Another highlight of the season for the company, which has contributed to its recovery, has been its evolution into a single fleet operator, in a move favouring the European manufacturer Airbus, through the early retirement of its fourteen Boeing B717 aircraft and their replacement by the larger Airbus A320s. In total, Volotea operated 40 Airbus A320s and A319s over the summer.

Despite good results in terms of capacity, flights and load factor, it has been a challenging summer for Volotea and its airport and handling partners. The market, impacted by the Covid crisis, has experienced great instability with constantly changing travel procedures leading to added operational complexity and an increased need to support passengers. To offer its customers the best possible experience, Volotea has, throughout the season, continued to facilitate free flexibility options and also to improve its Customer Care team, services and processes in order to provide the best possible support to its passengers.

“We are very satisfied with our performance this summer, in the context of the pandemic, and are very grateful for the positive response of our customers and crews. We have been able to help our customers fly to their holiday destinations, despite the difficult circumstances experienced by the travel industry as a whole. Our focus remains unchanged: to continue serving the maximum number of poorly served routes among small and mid-sized European cities, at the most competitive prices. Our strategic shift to an all-Airbus fleet, which is larger, more efficient and more environmentally friendly, has been key, together with our focus on domestic and island markets during the summer.  We hope the gradual recovery of the travel industry will continue over the coming months but, having improved our competitive cost base significantly during the crisis, we are certainly prepared for more ups and downs,” said Carlos Munoz, Founder and CEO of Volotea.

ABOUT VOLOTEA

Volotea was founded in 2011 by Carlos Munoz 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 inception, Volotea has carried more than 35 million passengers across Europe.

Volotea is based in 17 European small and mid-sized cities: Asturias, Athens, Bilbao, Bordeaux, Cagliari, Genoa, Hamburg, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Naples, Olbia, Palermo, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Venice and Verona. Volotea serves more than 100 cities across 16 countries including Algeria from France, which will be launched in September.

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 Covid-19 prevention measures audited by Bureau Veritas.

Volotea is becoming a single fleet Airbus carrier in 2021, renewing part of its fleet with the European manufacturer’s aircraft. The airline, which had planned to perform this fleet unification in 2023, advanced its plans in order to improve its cost base over the next 2-3 years and to increase its network offering, with aircraft that have a higher capacity and a longer flight range.

The airline operated a fleet of 40 aircraft in the summer of 2021 compared with 36 in 2019. In terms of volume, Volotea increased its seat capacity by up to 11% compared to 2019 (CHECK AND UPDATE PLEASE!!)

Volotea employs over 1,350 staff across Europe and, in the summer of 2020, outperformed its main competitors in terms of activity, load factor, operational levels and customer satisfaction.