Vueling marked a year of its merger with former rival Spanish carrier clickair. In 12 months the new carrier has flown more than 10 million people, an increase of 81% compared with the previous year.

Almost three and a half million (30% of the total transported) have originated outside Spain - foreigners travelling to Spain for both leisure and business.  Vueling passengers are staying in the country at least two days, contributing positively to tourism – accommodation, transportation and catering. In Barcelona Airport one out of every four passengers who arrive at El Prat has flown with Vueling.

On some of the airline’s routes, the proportion of overseas travellers is markedly higher. Some examples include the connections from Paris to Barcelona, Malaga and Alicante; from Brussels to Seville, Malaga and Amsterdam and Vueling’s Moscow-Barcelona route.

“The merger between Vueling and clickair was accomplished at a very complex time – in the teeth of an unprecedented economic slowdown. We are pleased to report that the marriage has been successful and has generated business synergies - resulting in a solid, healthy and profitable company in a highly competitive environment,” said Vueling CEO Alex Cruz.

“One of the catalysts to the success of this merger process has been and continues to be our obsession with cost savings. In 2009, 11.4 euros million was saved in cost synergies. During 2010 this will increase to a further 15.5 million euros,” he added.

Vueling’s consolidation following the merger also allowed the airline to incorporate two new aircraft to its fleet of Airbus A320s, adding new cities such as Edinburgh, its fourth route from the UK, Amman, Tel-Aviv or Ljubljana, to its route map. The airline has also diversified its services over the past year. Some examples are the addition of the PayPal payment method, handling service for unaccompanied minors, the possibility to block the ticket price and pets transportation.

Another pillar of success was Vueling’s ability to absorb all the synergies of distribution that each of the two companies had, bringing together a wide number of distribution channels that cater for budget carriers and traditional carriers.

Vueling flights are currently offered through its own website, travel agencies, IB5000 code share with Iberia or other online channels such as tour operators. Currently, sales through indirect channels represent 50% of the company’s total annual revenue.

Leadership in its main operating bases
With the merger, Vueling incorporated Bilbao, Malaga and Valencia to its existing operations bases of Barcelona, Madrid and Seville. Thanks to the synergies of the integration, the airline has consolidated its leadership at El Prat, its main base of operations, with 27% market share; Seville, with 37% and Bilbao, with 20%.

The leadership in Barcelona is being strengthened with the commencement of "Vueling-to-Vueling" connections. Effective July 5, the company is converting El Prat into its connections hub and plans to double the number of transits at the airport in 2010, carrying between 250,000 and 350,000 passengers.

In 2011 that number will reach one million people.

Best for business passengers
During its first year the new Vueling has been able to shape its business model to suit the business traveller. The fleet expansion has led to increased frequencies on key business routes. For example, up to 13 flights a day on the connections from Barcelona to Madrid, 10 to Paris, seven to Seville and six to Palma Mallorca.

Vueling has also been increasing services to appeal to the business sector, launching  innovations such as Go pack, the Flex rate, allocation of XL and Duo seats, plus the mobile boarding pass in some Spanish airports where the technology is available, such as Bilbao, Barcelona and Madrid. In addition, the airline's frequent flyer programme has been enhanced. Passengers can now choose between converting the amount paid for their tickets into points for its Punto program or Iberia Plus.

All those factors have contributed to a significant increase of passengers flying for business reasons. Today, this profile represents about 40%.