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Bortsett fra Flyr og andre oppstartselskaper, er Volotea det første i Europa som har vokst utover 2019 tallene. (Red.)

Volotea carries over 3.2 million passengers this summer, a growth of 5% over its 2019 traffic levels

By

 André Orban

18 September 2021

Between June and August, the airline has recovered 111% of its capacity versus 2019, operating 40 Airbus A320s and A319s.

For a second year in a row, Volotea leads the summer traffic recovery, achieving a 91% seat load, driven by a further push in domestic and island markets, including the launch of 85 new routes.

Volotea, the airline of small and mid-sized European cities, shared today its summer activity report for all the markets where it operates. Despite a season once again severely impacted by the COVID 19 crisis, Volotea has been able to put in place a strategy allowing it to grow above its 2019 capacity levels. Thanks to a new fleet and the creation of 85 new routes with a strong focus on domestic and island connectivity, Volotea has led, between June and August, the recovery among its competitors reaching 111% of the seats offered compared to 2019.

With a second summer season impacted by the pandemic, Volotea has reworked its strategy and adapted its offer to the new customer demand and expectations. By continuing with the focus it placed last year on the domestic offer, the airline has also increased the connectivity with the islands in all its markets. Since June, a total of 85 new routes have been launched, leading to Volotea offering more than 3.2 million seats during the season, which represents 111% of its 2019 capacity. Furthermore, Volotea’s strategy has shown very satisfactory results with a load factor of 91% among more than 21,800 flights operated.

Another highlight of the season for the company, which has helped and contributed to its recovery, has been the evolution into a single fleet operator, in a move favouring the European manufacturer Airbus, through the early retirement of its 14 Boeing B717 aircraft and their replacement by the larger Airbus A320s. In total, Volotea has operated 40 Airbus A320 and A319 during the summer.

Despite the good results in terms of capacity, flights, and seat load, it has been a very stretched summer for Volotea and its airport and handling partners. The market, impacted by the Covid crisis, has shown a very unstable environment with a constant evolution of travelling procedures leading to added complexity to the operations and an increase need of support from passengers. To offer its clients the best possible experience, Volotea has continued —during the entire season— to facilitate free flexibility options and also to improve its Customer Care team, services and processes, providing the best possible support to its passengers.

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