Alex Trelinski
SPANISH operator Volotea has become the first airline to publicly vow to take over regional routes dropped by Ryanair last month.
Volotea founder and CEO, Carlos Muñoz said his company was committed to small and medium-sized airports in Spain and Europe.
He also offered the carrier’s help as a medium-term solution to the service withdrawals by Ryanair at Asturias, Valladolid, Jerez, Vigo, Santiago, Zaragoza and Santander.
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The Irish carrier last month announced that it was scrapping 800,000 seats for the summer season.
Carlos Muñoz said: “If Ryanair leaves regional airports, no one should worry because Volotea is there.”
The company operates from two bases in Spain, in Asturias and Bilbao, and is looking to open two more over the next five years.
The take-up though won’t happen until next year, as Muñoz explained:
“We have very little room for manoeuvre this summer but we could take routes from Ryanair next summer.”
“ We believe there is a commercial case for using regional airports,” he explained, as well as stating that he had contacted airport operator Aena following Ryanair’s announcement.
Volotea already does have some flights at Jerez, Asturias, and Santander and sees itself as having capacity to improve the connectivity of regional airports with other airports in Spain and Europe.
Muñoz thanked Aena for its incentives in helping grow airports with less than three million passengers per year, but he did agree with Ryanair that the inducements barely generate any new routes.
“There are times when it is the local authorities that really facilitate the implementation of capacity,” he commented.
When pressed by journalists, the Volotea boss admitted that Aena’s network operation concept generates little competition between Spanish regional airports.
