Barcelona, 01/06/2021: With a significant upgrading of its fleet to larger capacity aircraft, the creation of over 70 new routes and the inauguration of two new bases in France and Italy (Lyon, Olbia), the airline will also be reaching 19 new airports and adding a new country (Algeria) to its network. In this way, Volotea confirms its strong recovery and its ambitious plans for 2021. The airline will increase its seat capacity by 30% this summer, compared to 2019, and will operate with a fleet of 40 aircraft (versus 36 in 2019).

Volotea, the airline connecting mid and small-sized European cities, reveals its 2021 plan and confirms its good operational health. After a challenging 2020 for the entire tourism sector, the airline resumes its growth. Last year Volotea distinguished itself by its ability to record satisfactory figures, particularly in Q3 2020, with an activity level of 83% compared to 2019. The fast adaptation of its network towards domestic routes allowed the company to reduce the number of operated routes by only 9% compared to 2019. Finally, the company also recorded a punctuality rate of 91.7%, an increase of 14.6 percentage points for OTP15 compared to 2019, and a customer recommendation rate of over 90%.

This year Volotea continues to grow, consolidating a strong summer leisure schedule after the very challenging months of COVID restrictions impacting the program. After completing its fleet change in January and becoming a 100% Airbus airline, the airline is increasing its fleet and will operate its network with a total of 40 aircraft (including 4 AC in wet lease and 3 stand-by AC to ensure the highest operational integrity), compared to 36 in 2019. With the addition of 20 A320 to its capacity, the creation of new routes and the opening of new bases (Lyon and Olbia) and a new country (Algeria), Volotea is boosting its commercial offer for 2021 and will offer a total of 30% more seats on its network.

"2020 was certainly the most difficult year in the history of commercial aviation. Now 2021 represents an important challenge, which we are facing with renewed optimism, as vaccination keeps advancing so strongly all over Europe. Lifting travel restrictions will be key to allow Europeans to travel among our great countries. Most importantly, we owe our strong position to the loyalty of our customers, which allows us to lead the return of travel in our local markets, with many new options for their holidays, always at the right price”." 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 35 million passengers across Europe.

Volotea is based in 17 European mid-sized capitals: 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 which will be launched in September, 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 40 aircraft in summer 2021 versus 36 in 2019. In terms of volume, Volotea also plans to increase its seat capacity by up to 30% compared to 2019.

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