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Air Europa has slot problems before beginning its inter-island flights Standard

Air Europa, A330 landing at Madrid airport / José Luis Celada Euba

As reported by El Mundo, last week at an intervention in a conference of economists from the Balearic Islands, Juan José Hidalgo (President of Air Europa) reviewed his entire business career, which he defined as “very difficult”, and he took advantage of the occasion to repeat his dedication to Mallorca and the Islands in general. During which, he reminded that his company pays taxes there and that more than 3,000 people carry out their work in the headquarters of the company in Llucmajor. At the event, Hidalgo emphasized that his hope for inter-island flights is serious and he announced that…

Volotea chose Asturias for the first base in Spain Standard

Boeing 717-200 Volotea Airlines EI-EXI by russavia / Wikimedia Commons

On October 27 we informed that Volotea would open up to 5 bases in Spain. The first one was expected for the north of the country, either in Bilbao, Santander, Vigo or Asturias. Last week Carlos Muñoz, CEO of Volotea,  confirmed to ElComercio.es that Volotea chose Asturias for the first base in Spain. The low cost airline will start to base its aircrafts there in May. Nevertheless, they will offer flights during Christmas this year – on the 19, 23, 26 and 30 of December – to Palma de Mallorca. On April 3 they will start operations with 2 weekly flights to Valencia. After this first destination, they…

Plus Ultra aiming to start operations in the first quarter of 2015 Standard

A9C-LG A343 in a basic Gulf Air color scheme before being painted as Plus Ultra by John Taggart / Wikimedia Commons

It’s been three months since Plus Ultra received its first airplane- an A340, previously property of Gulf Air, but Plus Ultra still doesn’t have its Air Operator Certificate (AOC). This is the reason why the plane remains parked at the Iberia facilities in Madrid´s airport with the ensuing expense. According to preferente.com, the long range flight airline propelled by the ex-executive of Air Madrid Julio Martínez, is spending between 1,000 and 2,000 Euros daily on keeping the A340 indoors, according to the marketing manager Rony Nahón. The sum changes depending on the place the plane occupies since it “sometimes has…

EasyJet: “Growth in Spain is focused on the Canaries and the Balearics” Standard

Easyjet A319 at Lanzarote airport by Andy Mitchell / Wikimedia Commons

EasyJet has left behind the passenger loss in the Spanish airports suffered as a consequence of the Madrid base closure at the end of 2012. The British carrier had a passenger gain of 6% this summer with regard to 2013. They are confident that they will end the year with an increase of 2.5%. According to the information published by CincoDías, Javier Gándara – director of easyJet in Spain and Portugal – said “this year we will grow to reach 12.3 million passengers compared to the 12 million that we transported in 2013”. He added that “growth in Spain is totally…

African Airlines considering stops in the Canaries for their US-bound flights Standard

Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 by BriYYZ - Flickr

Casa Africa is a Spanish public organization aimed at promoting relationships between Africa, Europe and Spain. During the last months, they have held meetings with two of the main African airlines: Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways. LaProvincia.es informed that the target of those meetings was to open new markets with the centre and south of their continent. During the conversations, Luis Padrón – Director of Casa Africa – offered the possibility of using the airports of the Canary Islands as a stop for their North America-bound flights. Especially, focused on the flights to the US in the case that the…

Ryanair offered 165,000 less seats in Alicante in summer Standard

Ryanair aircraft landing / Flickr - Leoncio J

Last month, Aena informed  that Alicante airport increased traffic by 2.5% between January and September 2014 with regard to the same period of 2013. This is significant by itself, but it is even more important if we consider that Ryanair, the first operator in the airport, reduced their offer in the summer from 2.373 to 2.208 million seats. That makes 165,000 less seats, which is a decrease in the offer by 7%. Still, Ryanair offered more than twice the capacity of the second operator in Alicante: easyJet. In Summer 14, Ryanair offered availability for 2.20 million people from Alicante, serving 47 destinations in 15…

Vueling bases a second A320 in Palma and increases availability by 67% Standard

Vueling A320 in Dubrovnik by Victor – Flickr

Starting on October 26, Vueling bases their second Airbus 320 in Palma with which they have increased their offer by 67%. In particular, they have increased from 372,000 seats in Winter 2013, to 625,000 seats in the current winter 2014 season. Also, they boosted the number of destinations from 8 to 14. These figures can be checked with the Flight Consulting customised airport statistics, which Winter 2014 data was just updated last week. Preferente.com informed on Friday that Álex Cruz, CEO of the  IAG member airline, visited Palma de Mallorca and said that “the main target is to attract more leisure…

Qatar Airways to fly Barcelona – Latin America in agreement with Iberia Standard

Boeing B773 Qatar In FC Barcelona At London Heathrow by David Osborn - Flickr

According to the information published by LaVanguardia, Qatar Airways intends to fly between Barcelona and Latin America. During the Aviation Partnership Summit, Akbar Al Baker – CEO of the airline – confirmed that they would do that only in the case that Iberia and the other Oneworld airlines were in agreement. Qatar Airways is a member of the Oneworld alliance since October 2013. Even though Iberia is leading the Latin American market in Europe, if they had capacity constraints in certain destinations, Qatar Airways would see a business opportunity for them. Al Baker takes into consideration Barcelona only, since Madrid is Iberia’s hub…

Volotea to open up to 5 bases in Spain Standard

Volotea's B-717 take-off from Seville airport / Wikimedia Commons - Curimedia

Volotea will open their first base in Spain in 2015. It will be in the north of Spain, either in Bilbao, Santander, Vigo or Asturias. They are planing to establish up to five bases among the Spanish airports. The next ones would be opened in the eastern region of the Iberian Peninsula, Andalusia, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands. Currently, Volotea‘s aircrafts spend the night at Venice, Palermo, Nantes or Bordeaux. Also Strasbourg is expected to be added to this list soon. A year has passed since we announced that Volotea was working to open a base in Asturias. According to Preferente.com, the Volotea’s strategy for the future…

Helitt Líneas Aéreas closes down Standard

A Helitt airplane flying from Badajoz airport / Flickr - José A.

The Málaga airport based airline Helitt Líneas Aéreas closes down after four years. According to Preferente.com, based on the information by ElMundo, José Pizarro – chairman – informed the employees through a letter that their contracts have been terminated. The company had a debt of 5 million Euros. The owner – The Pizarro family – also has about 20,000 parking places in Spain and Morocco. In August 2013, another piece by Preferente.com informed that the airline would no longer operate schedule services. Still, at that moment, they would continue to operate charter flights. This way, they offered their 3 66-seated ATR-72, in either…