SPAIN: Volotea Starts 10 New Routes

Volotea launched 10 new routes across its network over the last week.

Zaragoza welcomed the launch of Volotea services from Munich and Venice Marco Polo on 4 June. Both routes will be flown twice weekly by the airline’s 717s and neither faces any direct competition.

Munich has celebrated two new route launches with Volotea recently with a Montpellier service launching last week and being swiftly followed by the introduction of flights to Zaragoza on 4 June.

All of the new links are low frequency services, with six of them operating once per week and the other four being twice-weekly rotations.

Route lengths vary from the 554-kilometre Catania (CTA) to Pescara (PSR) service to the 1,822-kilometre Marseille (MRS) to Mykonos (JMK) connection.

The average sector length of the new airport pairs is 1,143 kilometres.

None of the new routes face any direct competition.

Volotea is a Spanish low-cost airline registered in Asturias, Spain with bases in Spain, Italy, France and Greece.

The focus of Volotea's route network is on destinations around the European side of the Mediterranean coast as well as Western and Southern Europe.

Volotea serves metropolitan and leisure destinations mainly in Spain, France, Italy and Greece which fewer destinations in Portugal, Croatia, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Ireland.

Volotea fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Airbus A319-100 - 13

Boeing 717-200 - 17

Total - 30

Volotea is the only current European operator of the Boeing 717.

Volotea was established by Alaeo S.L. from Barcelona, a company created by former Vueling founders, Carlos Munoz and Lazaro Ros.

The name Volotea originates from the Spanish verb revolotear, meaning to fly around. It commenced operations on 5 April 2012, from Venice Marco Polo Airport.

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 America's Continental Airlines, and also chairs Volotea's board.

The company raised over €50m before operations began. US CCMP Capital Partners holds 49% of voting rights; Axis and Corpfin Capital 25%; and Munoz and Ros 26% along with relatives.

This ownership has existed since foundation, but it could change before an initial public offering before 2021-2022.

After studying the Bombardier CRJ1000 and the Embraer E-195 in 2011, Volotea selected the 717 after Southwest acquired AirTran and replaced its 717 fleet by 737s.

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.

In March 2015, it was announced that Volotea will receive a further four 717s from Blue1.

However, in November 2015, Volotea announced plans to phase out their 717 fleet over the next few years and replace it with Airbus A320 family aircraft.]

Volotea opened 90 routes in its first year, of which 40 were closed within 2 years and operates 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, a turnover of €360 million ($431 million) is expected in 2018 after $347M in 2017, carrying 5.7 to 6 million passengers: 50% are travelling for leisure, 35% to visit friends and relatives, and 15% for business.


Tourism Observer

SPAIN: New Model Airline Volotea Is New Member Of IATA

Volotea, the airline of mid- and small‐sized European cities is a new member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Representing some 280 airlines or 83 percent of total air traffic, IATA is the trade association for the world’s airlines.

It supports many areas of aviation activity and helps formulate industry policy on critical aviation issues.

We are pleased to become an IATA member, as this global association leads the innovation, safety and value creation in the airline industry, supporting the highest industry standards, said Carlos Munoz, Volotea’s founder and CEO.

The airline is expected to benefit from IATA’s know how and resources covering all fields of the industry, including analysis of regulations, development of standards, innovation in distribution, improvements on safety procedures, updates and training for aviation industry professionals, as well as cost reduction.

Volotea is a new model airline with a clever and bold approach, creating demand and connectivity by establishing innovative routes.

We are thrilled to welcome Volotea to the IATA family and to help them grow and excel in this highly competitive European market, said IATA Regional Vice President for Europe Rafael Schvartzman.

Volotea has carried 15 million passengers since its first flight in 2012, and over 4.8 million in 2017 alone.

Since the beginning of 2018, Volotea has launched 58 new flights to serve a lineup of 293 routes.

It currently operates flights to 78 mid- and small-sized European cities in 13 countries including France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, Croatia, and the Czech Republic.

The airline is expected to carry 5.7-6 million passengers in 2018.

Its fleet consists of 32 aircraft, Boeing 717s and Airbus A319s.

Volotea currently operates from twelve bases: Venice, Nantes, Bordeaux, Palermo, Strasbourg, Asturias, Verona, Toulouse, Genoa, Bilbao, Marseille that opened on April 19 and Athens, which launched on May 3.

Volotea is a Spanish low-cost airline registered in Asturias, Spain with bases in Spain, Italy, France and Greece.

Volotea was established by Alaeo S.L. from Barcelona, a company created by former Vueling founders, Carlos Munoz and Lazaro Ros.

The name Volotea originates from the Spanish verb revolotear, meaning to fly around.

It commenced operations on 5 April 2012, from Venice Marco Polo Airport.

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 America's Continental Airlines,and also chairs Volotea's board.

The company raised over €50m before operations began.

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.

In March 2015, it was announced that Volotea will receive a further four 717s from Blue1.

However, in November 2015, Volotea announced plans to phase out their 717 fleet over the next few years and replace it with Airbus A320 family aircraft.

As of January 2018, the Volotea fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Airbus A319-100 - 11

Boeing 717-200 - 17

Total - 28

Orders

Airbus A319-100 - 4


Tourism Observer

SPAIN: Ibiza Airport Rubbish Collectors Strike

A rubbish collection strike at Ibiza airport is becoming a health issue with travellers complaining about the 'intolerable smell', bins overflowing and heaps of plastic bottles, cans and food wrappers all over the floor in the waiting areas.

Workers who have downed tools are protesting over the fact they have not been paid for three months.

After not having earned a salary since January, they say they have been left in an extreme situation, unable to pay rent or mortgages, electricity and water bills, and with no money to buy food or even pay transport costs to get to work.

They have now been on strike whilst passengers do not blame them, their experience of travelling through Ibiza airport is extremely unpleasant.

As yet, the rubbish collection franchise firm has not commented on the situation.

An aircraft heading for Santander (Cantabria) last night had to return to base due to a 'technical fault', according to airport governing body AENA.

The Volotea flight took off from Sevilla's San Pablo terminal at 18.24 yesterday (Tuesday), but was forced to turn round and go back after half an hour in the air.

It was just under halfway to its destination, Seve Ballesteros Airport in the northern coastal region.

The nature of the mechanical issue has not been revealed, but the aircraft is said to have landed 'normally' at 18.55 in Sevilla with no damage or passenger issues.

It was expected travellers would board another aircraft later that evening if the fault was unable to be rectified quickly enough for them to continue their onward travel on the same plane.

Meanwhile hundreds of passengers were left stranded at Madrid's Barajas airport after a system failure suffered by British Airways which has ground planes.

Passengers worldwide were affected, and all flights were cancelled until 18.00 mainland Spain time in every country.

British Airways (BA), which is part of the Anglo-Spanish company IAG – encompassing Irish carrier Aer Lingus and Spanish airlines Iberia and Vueling – said a 'major IT fault' stopped all flights to and from Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

For Spain, this means long-haul flights in particular were affected, since BA is a major carrier from Barcelona and Madrid airports to destinations in, among other countries, India and Australia.

Passengers complained on social networks that they have not been able to make bookings or check in online via the BA mobile phone App, whilst others said the queues in Madrid's Adolfo Suárez-Barajas terminal were stretching back along the corridor.

Here, flights directly to, or via, London scheduled for 10.55 and 12.20 were delayed and did not take off until at least 18.20.

One passenger who was heading to Heathrow from Madrid on flight BA457 – the first of the morning, due to leave at 10.55 – for a connecting flight to the USA said passengers were still stuck on the plane at 13.30 since the company thought it would be able to solve the problem relatively quickly.

The traveller said many passengers, who needed to be in London that day during business hours, decided to abandon their trip and got off the plane.

And passengers on the 12.20 from Madrid to Heathrow were believed to still be on the plane at 15.15 on Saturday, May 27.

Iberia and Vueling flights contined to operate normally, although those arriving in Spain from Heathrow may have been affected by what IAG called 'a system outage'.

MOLDOVA: Chisinau Airport Passenger Traffic Grew 25 per cent Last Year

Moldova’s increasingly popular Chisinau main gateway airport is enjoying a much-needed renovation boost, despite fears of alleged corrupt ownership practices at the airport, which is being managed under a controversial 49-year government concession contract.

The substantial renovation work follows on from some significant performance improvements at the airport over the last five years, so that 15 carriers now operate scheduled services from Chisinau airport (IATA code: KIV) to 38 destinations in 17 countries.

Six new carriers were attracted during 2015 and early 2016: LOT Polish Airlines, Ural Airlines (Russia), VIM Airlines (Russia), Volotea (Spain), Aegean Airlines (Greece), and Fly One (Moldova).

Newly introduced destinations include Parma, Florence, Brussels, and Russia's Voronezh. Frequencies were increased on several existing routes.

Moldova is a country of modest means, and whilst it is currently on the cusp of both the pro-Russia and pro-EU development opportunities, the nation is especially interested in the fortunes of its hard-currency-earning aviation enterprise – and developing Chisinau airport is viewed as a top priority.

Economically, the country has not been doing particularly well of late: it ranks 131st in the world by purchasing power parity, and among all the post-Soviet states, only Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan fare worse.

Hence the government's keen interest in the future of the country's main air gateway, which saw passenger numbers double from 1.04 million in 2011 to 2.22 million in 2015.

One particular indication of that growing potential is Hungarian carrier Wizz Air’s plan to start using it as its base in the spring of 2017.

Against this positive backdrop, and somewhat controversially, the airport is operated by Avia Invest, a Russian-controlled company which, in November 2013, was handed ‘ownership’ of the airport in an exclusive 49-year concession.

According to the airport's 2014 corporate statement, Avia Invest was initially co-founded by Russia's Kolomna Plant, which manufacturers railway rolling stock and is part of locomotive manufacturer Transmashholding.

The other co-founder was Khabarovsk airport, also located in Russia.

It was later reported that Kolomna Plant had ceded its share in Avia Invest, and that Khabarovsk airport's share in the company had been cut from 50 to five per cent.

The new proprietor of 95 per cent of the shares in Avia Invest is Russian firm Komaksavia, owned by British entity TB Team Management LLP and registered at the same address as businessman Konstantin Basyuk Komaks’ managing company, the same Komaks which runs Russia’s Khabarovsk airport.

The convoluted ownership of Avia Invest has prompted Moldovan media outlets to describe the concession deal as highly suspicious, and a number of local politicians and state officials have been calling for the contract to be cancelled or reviewed.

Critics include Maia Sandu, a pro-European candidate at the latest presidential election, who insists that the concession agreement is in breach of the law, going on to describe it as part of “the fraud of the century” (also pointing the finger at an allegedly illegal withdrawal of $1 billion from the Moldovan banking system).

Sandu says these are part of a “shady deal” about which the current government is refusing to provide detailed information.

Avia Invest’s managers dismiss all these claims as populism: “The airport's concession deal was the right and necessary step.

In all the 24 years of the country's independence, only around $10-12 million had been invested in the development of this strategic facility, whereas Avia Invest, in just under two years, has already invested four times more,” says an official statement.

Moldovan journalists remain sceptical as to the agreement's benefits to the country, though. They point to the fact that Avia Invest's annual financial performance figures, including its revenues and taxes paid to the state, are not available on the company’s website.

The only information accessible is in the form of press releases, which do not provide a full and clear understanding of the airport's financial state and the sums invested to date.

The airport's passenger traffic in 2015 grew 25 per cent year-on-year and 68 per cent up on 2013.

The improvements are attributable, it is said, from Moldova having joined the Single European Sky initiative in 2012, and by the lifting of the short-visit EU visa requirement for Moldovan citizens in 2014.

Avia Invest insists that the ongoing project to modernise and develop Chisinau is already appreciated by passengers.

The airport's throughput capacity has been increased from 420 to 750 passengers per hour, the check-in area has been expanded two-fold to 1,100 square metres – and there are now 18 check-in counters and six passport control desks, served by 12 border guards.

A new baggage processing system has been installed, as well as ultramodern lighting and improved air conditioning.

As part of the modernisation, the airside area has been expanded by 900 square metres and fully renovated. “We increased the number of boarding gates and security checkpoints, which additionally improved the airport's throughput capacity,” says Avia Invest, which adds that it has also fully overhauled all the networks and systems supporting the terminal operation.

The most spacious multi-storied car park in the country, a four-level facility for 800 vehicles, has been erected opposite the airport terminal.

Avia Invest has also been working to improve the airfield infrastructure, a project which embraces the comprehensive renovation of more than 500,000 square metres of airfield area, including the single 3,590 m by 45 m runway, as well as taxiways and apron areas.

Avia Invest believes the renovation and development scheme, in combination with an effective new strategy for attracting additional airlines, are helping the airport to start offering new routes and increase the frequencies of existing services.

SPAIN: Spanish Airline Joins European Lobbying Group

Spanish low-cost airline Volotea has joined newly-formed airline association, Airlines For Europe (A4E).

The airline, which operates from bases in France, Italy and Spain, is headquartered in Barcelona.

A4E is a campaign and lobbying group for the European aviation industry, currently working to bring an end to ongoing strikes in France and Germany and calling for passenger taxes to be abolished.

"We are looking forward to working with Airlines for Europe and its member airlines on a focused aviation agenda for Europe," said Volotea CEO Carlos Munoz.

"A4E is now our new strong voice to address policy and regulatory issues which are affecting our daily business and should be tackled in the interest of all European passengers."