Volotea gains altitude two and a half years after starting its operations. The airline founded by Carlos Muñoz and Lázaro Ros, creators of Vueling, has just announced the opening of a base in Strasbourg, the third in France and the fifth overall, while it finalises the incorporation of its first base in Spain. Vigo, Oviedo, Santander and Bilbao are the candidates in contention.

After a year without openings, in which Volotea has focused on consolidating the four bases it already had—Venice, Nantes, Bordeaux and Palermo—it will add Strasbourg and its first base in Spain in 2015. A year in which it expects to increase its number of flights by 30% and reach 2.5 million passengers, compared to the 1.8 million with which it will close this year.

The route map will also be expanded, increasing from 119 to 151 routes, as well as the fleet, with the incorporation of four aircraft of the Boeing 717 model with which it operates, two of which will be based in Strasbourg. In Spain, the number of destinations will rise from 27 to 40 in 2015, and Volotea plans to transport 351,000 passengers in this market, compared to the 233,000 customers this year.

“The figures show that the intuition behind this model, based on connecting small and medium-sized European cities, made sense. But there is no intention to break growth records; solidity matters more to us than speed,” explains Carlos Muñoz, CEO of Volotea, to EXPANSIÓN. In 2015, the company expects to reach revenues of €220 million, compared to €160 million this year. According to the 2013 management report filed with the Mercantile Registry, the company expected to close 2014 with a positive net result. Muñoz avoids confirming this and states that “we are satisfied; the progression is positive.” EXPANSIÓN. En 2015, la compañía confía en alcanzar unos ingresos de 220 millones de euros, frente a los 160 millones de este. Según el informe de gestión del ejercicio 2013 remitido al Registro Mercantil, la compañía esperaba cerrar 2014 con un resultado neto positivo. Muñoz evita confirmarlo y apunta que “estamos contentos, la progresión es positiva”.

Volotea’s medium-term outlook

Volotea, which also operates destinations in Germany, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic and Israel, does not rule out opening operational bases in the German market in the medium term: “We are very interested, but it is very difficult and slow to develop; it will take two or three years.” There is also room to expand its business in Spain. In Muñoz’s words, “there is room for between three and five bases; what needs to be determined is their size.” In Venice, for example, the airline has seven aircraft, while Palermo or Strasbourg have two. The Levante region, Andalusia, and the Balearic and Canary Islands, where Volotea already operates, could host the company’s next operational bases.

The roadmap also still includes the possibility of going public: “An IPO is a means of making the company more solid. It is the central hypothesis, but on a two-year horizon.” Volotea, which is owned by the US firm CCMP Capital, the Spanish funds Axis and Corpfin Corpfin, the founders and the management team, expects to reach 600 employees by next summer, compared to 480 in the same period of 2014.

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Corpfin Capital y la aerolínea Volotea – Cerodosbe.com