 | |||||||
.jpg) VoloteaAirbus A319-112 landing atHamburg Finkenwerder Airport | |||||||
| |||||||
| Founded | 2011; 15 years ago (2011) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | 5 April 2012; 13 years ago (2012-04-05)[1] | ||||||
| Operating bases | |||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Megavolotea | ||||||
| Fleet size | 41 | ||||||
| Destinations | 79 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Asturias Airport, Castrillón, Spain (registered office) | ||||||
| Key people |
| ||||||
| Revenue | € 694 million (2023) | ||||||
| Employees | 2,000 | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
Volotea (Spanish:[boloˈtea]) is aSpanishlow-cost airlineregistered inCastrillón[2] and headquartered inBarcelona.[3]
Volotea was established by Alaeo S.L. fromBarcelona, a company created by formerVueling founders,Carlos Muñoz and Lázaro Ros. The name "Volotea" originates from theSpanish verb "revolotear", meaning "to fly around".[4] It commenced operations on 5 April 2012, fromVenice Marco Polo Airport.[5]
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 airlineContinental Airlines,[6] and also chairs Volotea's board. The company raised over €50m before operations began.[7] US CCMP Capital Partners holds 49% of voting rights; Axis and Corpfin Capital 25%; andMuñoz and Ros 26% along with relatives: this ownership has existed since foundation, but it could change before aninitial public offering prior to 2021–2022.[8]
After studying theBombardier CRJ1000 and theEmbraer E-195 in 2011, Volotea selected theBoeing 717 afterSouthwest Airlines acquiredAirTran and replaced its 717 fleet.[8]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.[9] In March 2015, it was announced that Volotea would receive a further four 717s fromBlue1.[10] However, in November 2015, Volotea announced plans to phase out its 717 fleet over the next few years and replace it withAirbus A320 family aircraft.[11]
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, aturnover 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.[8]
Due to the2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis, in 2017, Volotea changed the headquarters toAsturias.[12]
In January 2021, Volotea retired the last of its 19Boeing 717-200s.[13] It was the last European airline to operate the type. In October 2021, Volotea won the auction for handling thePSOs, for a period of 7 months, to and from the island ofSardinia, organised by theAutonomous Region of Sardinia on behalf of theItalian Government.[14][15][16] The airline operated the PSO services by offering daily flights, as per what required by the auction, from the Sardinian airports ofCagliari-Elmas,Olbia-Costa Smeralda andAlghero-Fertilia to the Italian airports ofRome Fiumicino andMilan Linate. The PSO operations started on 15 October 2021 and are to end on 15 May 2022.[15]
In January 2022, Volotea announced the closure of its base atGenoa Airport after five years, ending 14 routes.[17] In March 2022, the company announced its intentions to take part in the upcomingPSO auction in Sardinia, which had been previously announced by theAutonomous Region of Sardinia, solely with the route fromCagliari-Elmas toRome Fiumicino airport, being it the most profitable service within the PSO scheme, while data regarding the other routes was being analysed as they were also being taken into consideration.[18] Subsequently, at the end of the month,ITA Airways announced its willingness to operate PSO service routes from allSardinian airports without any financial compensations for an year until May 2023.[19] As a result, Volotea announced on 28 March 2022 that it was also interested in covering allPSO routes, without financial compensations, from bothCagliari-Elmas andOlbia-Costa Smeralda airports, after having analysed data from their previousPSO experience.[20] In April 2022,Carlos Muñoz, theCEO of the company, eventually announced Volotea had reached an agreement with ITA Airways; according to which the airline will operate only half of the frequencies, while the remaining ones would be assigned to the counterpart.[21]
In May 2023, Volotea andEurowings signed a cooperation agreement with reciprocal sales of 150 routes.[22]
The key trends for Volotea are:[23]
| Revenue (€m)[24] | Number of employees | Number of passengers (m)[25] | Passenger load factor (%)[26] | Number of routes | Fleet size | References | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 396 | 6.5 | 93 | [27] | |||
| 2019 | 441 | 1,300 | 7.6 | 94 | 319 | 36 | [28] |
| 2020 | 192 | 1,120 | 3.8 | 90.7 | 285 | 36 | [29] |
| 2021 | 302 | 1,209 | 6.0 | 354 | 41 | [30] | |
| 2022 | 557 | 1,326 | 9.4 | 91 | 360 | 41 | [31] |
| 2023 | 694 | 1,800 | 10.4 | 410 | 44 | [32] | |
| 2024 | 811 | 2,000 | 11.4 | 450 | 45 | [33] |
The focus of Volotea's route network is on destinations around the European side of theMediterranean coast as well as Western and SouthernEurope. As of May 2018, Volotea serves metropolitan and leisure destinations mainly inSpain,France,Italy andGreece with destinations inAustria,Croatia,Czechia,Germany,Luxembourg,Norway andPortugal.[34] Volotea served its first African destination (Tangier, Morocco) on 5 April 2019.[35]
Volotea hascodeshare andinterline agreements with the following airlines:
.jpg)
As of August 2025[update], Volotea operates an allAirbus A320 family fleet composed of the following aircraft:[39]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-100 | 17 | — | 138 | |
| 156 | ||||
| Airbus A320-200 | 24 | — | 174 | |
| 180 | ||||
| Total | 41 | — | ||
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 717-200 | 19 | 2012 | 2021 | Last European operator.[13] |
On 24 June 2024, Volotea was voted 2024Best Low-Cost Airline in Europe bySkytrax.[41]
[...]registered address at Aeropuerto de Asturias, Santiago del Monte (Castrillón), 33459, Spain[...]
where you can find us Our offices Travessera de Gracia 56, 4ª. 08006 - Barcelona
Media related toVolotea at Wikimedia Commons
