Barcelona, February 6^th, 2024 - Volotea, the airline connecting small and mid- sized European cities, is moving forward with the payment schedule of the €145 million syndicated loan received from a group of Spanish banks guaranteed by the Spanish Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) in 2020 to mitigate the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic.

As of January 29, 2024, the airline has repaid a further €10.1 million of the syndicated loan, guaranteed by 70% by the Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO). In this installment, Volotea has also paid €5.2 million in interest, which represents a total amount of €15.3 million paid between capital and interest.

Considering all the repayments made to date, including an €8.7 million capital payment and €4.7 million interest payment made in July 2023, Volotea's total payments amount to €58.4 million inclusive of capital and interest (24% of the total loan capital). As a result, four years after the concession of the syndicated loan, the airline continues to fulfill its commitment and remains on track with timely repayments.

Stephen Rapp, Chief Financial Officer of Volotea, said: "Volotea is meeting all its contractual commitments within the expected timeframes, demonstrating its strength. The company had to secure an exceptional loan back in 2020 to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic, but the resilience of its operations, especially in 2023, has driven a recovery. For 2023, we anticipate a final revenue of approximately €700 million, a 26% growth compared to 2022, and will generate historic margins for a company with just over ten years of existence."

Following the specified amortization schedule in the contract, the outstanding capital after this payment is €109.9 million. Volotea operates on a fixed and specific credit repayment schedule. In line with this, the repayment has nine further installments remaining, scheduled for January and July of each year, to reach complete repayment by July 2028.

ABOUT VOLOTEA

Volotea was founded in 2011 by Carlos Muñoz and Lázaro Ros, also previously founders of Vueling. It is one of the fastest-growing independent airlines in Europe in the last decade, increasing its fleet, routes served, and seats offered year-on-year. This year, the airline will celebrate a milestone of carrying 60 million passengers throughout its network.

Volotea reaches 110 airports and is based in 21 medium-sized European capitals: Asturias, Athens, Bari (new for 2024), Bilbao, Bordeaux, Brest (new for 2024), Cagliari, Florence, Hamburg, Lille, Lyon, Lourdes, Marseille, Nantes, Naples, Olbia, Palermo, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Venice, and Verona.

This year, Volotea will operate nearly 450 routes (with over half exclusive), offer between 12.5M and 13M seats (+12% to 16% versus 2023), and fly approximately 80,000 flights. The airline also plans to expand its fleet and will operate with up to 45 Airbus A319 and A320.

Volotea is working towards achieving a more sustainable future in aviation. The airline is set to achieve its target of reducing direct CO2 emissions per passenger-kilometer by 50% by 2025, five years ahead of the initial schedule. Furthermore, the airline has set a new and even more ambitious goal: to decrease emissions by 58% by 2030. To date, Volotea has launched over 50 sustainability initiatives that have already driven a reduction in carbon footprint per passenger and kilometer by more than 45%. Since 2022, the company has been working on developing emission-free alternative technologies, operating Airbus' internal shuttle service with 34% sustainable aviation fuel, and collaborating with manufacturers and the industry so that these fuels (now difficult to access) can be developed and become widespread as soon as possible. 

Volotea, with a projected workforce of 2,000 employees this year, actively boosts connectivity within the territories where it is based while contributing to their economic development and enriching the cultural landscape through impactful sponsorship projects.

Volotea was recognized by Skytrax in its global passenger satisfaction survey as the “Best Low-Cost Airline in Europe” at the 2023 World Airline Awards, referred to by media worldwide as “the Oscars of the aviation industry.” The airline adds this accolade to its growing list of achievements, which includes consecutive wins for "Leading European Low-Cost Airline" at the World Travel Awards in 2021 and 2022.

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