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Vueling has announced an investment of 325 million euros with the addition of five new aircraft to its fleet – four Airbus A320s and one Airbus A319. This represents the biggest investment by Vueling at the Catalan Airport since its merger with clickair in 2009.
With the new aircraft, Vueling will have a total fleet of 28 aircraft based at El Prat and offer 70 direct routes from the Catalan capital, 23 more than last summer. This increase will also expand the number of connecting flights via Barcelona up to a potential of 900.
A consolidated growth plan will also mean the recruitment of an additional 165 personnel: 150 to crew the aircraft and 15 administrative staff. Also, as a result of this expansion, air operations suppliers (handling, catering, etc) will increase turnover by 5%, resulting in increased recruitment and turnover for these companies.
In 2010, a year after the merger, Vueling showed virtually no growth – just 3% at Barcelona El Prat Airport. A year later, in 2011, the airline doubled its growth with three new routes. But it will be this coming summer season 2012 when Vueling experiences its greatest growth in Catalonia with a growth of 17.5%, 23 new direct routes. New Vueling routes will include Lanzarote (Spain) San Sebastian (Spain), Almeria (Spain), Lourdes (France), Malmo (Sweden), Nuremberg (Germany), Edinburgh and Southampton (UK), Stavanger (Norway) and Split (Croatia) in addition to the thirteen already present as new this year.
Vueling strengthens its presence in France with seven new routes making a total of 11 direct connections with the country from Barcelona. For the first time new routes to Sweden, Norway and Denmark are also being operated.
These new additions will also highlight ??Vueling’s connectivity on almost all routes, providing them with a greater number of frequencies to improve links between flights. In addition there are notable increases, of more than 56,000 seats, on Barcelona-Milan and significant increases on routes to Moscow, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Genoa, Pisa, Tenerife and Las Palmas.
El Prat is among the four European airports with better short haul connections
Vueling operations at Barcelona El Prat now encompass 70 routes and considerable frequency per route. El Prat is among the top European airports offering short haul routes (routes of less than 2,900km). Only Frankfurt (with Lufthansa offering 98 short-haul routes) Charles de Gaulle (with Air France offering 79 short haul routes) and Madrid Barajas (where Iberia offers 79 short haul routes) are bigger.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
