From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Vueling Airlines
Vueling Airlines
Vueling Airlines Vueling Airlines SA (BMAD: VLG), commonly short-
Vueling,
ened to Vueling is an airline based in El Prat de Llobre-
gat, near Barcelona (Spain), where it maintains its main
operating base. There are seven additional bases at Ams-
terdam, Bilbao, Madrid, Málaga, Seville, Toulouse and Va-
lencia.
Vueling serves destinations in Europe and the west-
IATA ICAO Callsign ern Mediterranean.
VY VLG VUELING
Founded February 2004 History
Commenced 1 July 2004
operations Early years
Operating bases Amsterdam
Bilbao
Ibiza (seasonal)
Madrid
Malaga
Seville
Toulouse
Valencia
Hubs Barcelona
Frequent-flyer Punto
program
Fleet size 51
Destinations 51
A Vueling Airbus A320 parked at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol,
Company slogan Flying hoy means Vueling Netherlands. (2007)
(Flying today means Vueling)
Headquarters El Prat de Llobregat, Spain Vueling was established in February 2004 and com-
menced operations on 1 July 2004 with a flight between
Key people Carlos Muñoz & Lázaro Ros
(founders) Barcelona and Ibiza. The initial fleet consisted of two Air-
Josep Piqué (Chairman) bus A320 aircraft, based in Barcelona serving Paris, Brus-
Alex Cruz (CEO) sels, Palma and Ibiza.[1]
Lars Nygaard (former CEO) Initially, major shareholders of Vueling Airlines were
Website vueling.com Apax Partners (40%), Inversiones Hemisferio (Grupo
Planeta) (30%), Vueling’s management team (23%) and
V.A. Investor (JetBlue Airways) (7%). During its nascent
stages, the company’s general manager was Lázaro Ros,
while Carlos Muñoz was CEO. In November 2007, Vueling
appointed managing director of Spanair Lars Nygaard as
CEO to replace Carlos Muñoz, who remained as a member
of the Board of Directors.
Madrid was added as the airline’s second base in 2005,
followed by their first base outside Spain at Paris Charles
de Gaulle in 2007. Seville followed in December 2007.
Vueling head office in El Prat de Llobregat, Spain
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Vueling Airlines
Financial concerns and management re- some destinations being added, including Warsaw and
Bucharest-Otopeni.
shuffle
2007 was a difficult year for Vueling; Apax Partners sold
their then 21% stake in the carrier in June of that year, Corporate affairs
followed by two profit warnings issued in August and Oc- The airline has its head office in the Parque de Negocios
tober. Two company directors and the chairman resigned Mas Blau II in El Prat de Llobregat, near Barcelona.[12] Pri-
shortly before the second profit warning, citing differ- or to the merger the airline had its head office in Edificio
ences over commercial strategy.[2] Shares in the compa- Muntadas C in Parque de Negocios Mas Blau.[13]
ny were also temporarily suspended.[3]
This led to Barbara Cassani, former Chief Executive of
UK low-cost airline Go Fly, joining Vueling as chairman of
Cooperation with MTV
the board in September 2007. The airline then embarked In 2009, Vueling for the second year cooperated with
on a restructuring exercise and posted its first profit in MTV for the summer season. Two of Vueling’s A320’s (EC-
mid-2009.[4] The Paris base was also closed so that the KDG and EC-KDH) were transformed into MTV liveries
airline could concentrate on the Spanish market. with some MTV style inside too. The designs of the two
A320’s were created by Custo Barcelona.[14] As of May
Vueling and Clickair merger 2010, the aircraft are back in their original livery.
In June 2008, Vueling and rival Spanish low cost airline In the summer season of 2010, EC-KDG has once again
Clickair announced their intention to merge. The merger been transformed into an MTV livery.
was designed to create a carrier better able to compete in
the competitive Spanish airline market and mitigate high Frequent flyer programme
fuel costs. Iberia was the main partner in the agreement,
while the new company would trade under the Vueling Vueling’s frequent flyer programme is called Punto
name with Clickair’s Alex Cruz was named as chief exec- (Spanish for ’point’). It allows frequent fliers to collect
utive.[5] points when they fly which can then be redeemed for
The deal was subject to scrutiny and approval by Vueling flights, excluding fees and taxes which must still
European competition regulators, who were concerned be paid by the passenger. Punto members may also collect
that the merged airline would have a significant compet- points through a Vueling credit card.[15]
itive advantage on around 19 routes. The regulators de-
manded the release of slots at Barcelona and other Euro- Destinations
pean airports as a condition of the merger.[6]
On the July 15, 2009 the merger of Vueling and Click-
air was completed.[7] The new merged airline operates
under the Vueling brand, with Clickair flights and air-
craft re-branded under the Vueling name. It became the
second largest Spanish carrier[citation needed] flying 8.2 mil-
lion passengers in 2009,[8] to almost 50 destinations.
Vueling flew more than 11 million passengers in 2010. [8]
Recent developments
In November 2010, Vueling announced a new base at
Toulouse Airport in France from April 2011,[9] followed
in December 2010 by the announcement of a new base in
A Vueling Airbus A320 landing at Lisbon Airport, Portugal.
Amsterdam, also to open during April 2011. The Toulouse
(2006)
base opened on 23 April 2011.[10]
In January 2011 it was announced that Vueling were
Main article: Vueling Airlines destinations
to add a further nine aircraft to their fleet during 2011,
including an Airbus A319. Six Airbus A320s will be de-
livered between April and June 2011, whilst the remain- Executives
ing two A320s will be delivered by the end of 2011. The • Chairman: Josep Piqué
A319 was supposed to be delivered at the end of 2011, • Company Secretary: Pedro Farreras
but it was delivered in April 2011.[11] Those extra aircraft • Chief Executive: Alex Cruz
will be used in order to increase the Madrid base, with • Chief Financial & Corporate Officer: Antonio Grau
• Chief Operating Officer: Luís Gallego
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Vueling Airlines
• Chief Marketing Officer: Lluís Pons KMI) reached Alicante with a delay of 4.5 hours.[citation
• Chief Sales Officer: Juan Carlos Iglesias needed]
• Chief Strategy Officer: Silvia Mosquera[16]
Reference
Fleet [1] The History of Vueling
[2] Madrid-listed budget carrier Vueling has warned
higher fuel costs and lower ticket prices could
result in it reporting a loss this year
[3] The Spanish stock market regulator CNMV has
suspended trading in low-cost carrier Vueling’s
shares
[4] Vueling completes restructuring; reports Q2
operating profit
[5] Vueling To Merge With Clickair
[6] Iberia-Clickair-Vueling surrender slots for merger
A Vueling Airbus A320 at Madrid-Barajas Airport, taxiing to- approval
wards terminal 4. (2006) [7] Vueling new airline name to UK. TravelMole. Phil
Davies.
As of December 2011, the Vueling Airlines fleet consists [8] ^ Vueling Passenger Statistics
of the following aircraft, with an average age of 9.1 [9] Vueling announces base in Toulouse
years:[17] [10] Vueling announces base in Amsterdam
Vueling Airlines fleet [11] New Vueling Aircraft
[12] "Contact, vueling.com. Retrieved on 20 December
Aircraft In Service Passengers
2010. "VUELING AIRLINES S.A. Parque de Negocios
(Economy)
Mas Blau II Pla de l’Estany, 5 El Prat de Llobregat
Airbus A319-100 1 144 Barcelona 08820 Spain" - Address in Catalan:
Airbus A320-200 50 180 "VUELING AIRLINES S.A. Parc de Negocis Mas Blau
II Pla de l’Estany, 5 08820 El Prat de Llobregat -
Total 51 Barcelona (Espanya) "
On August 2010, Vueling announced plans to add six air- [13] "Contact Us." Vueling Airlines. 10 October 2004.
craft over 2011, which would take the fleet size to 48 Retrieved on 13 September 2011. "VUELING
planes. Vueling also announced its intention to explore AIRLINES S.A. Parque de Negocios Mas Blau Edificio
switching to a Boeing 737 fleet.[18] Muntadas C/ Berguedà 1 El Prat de Llobregat
Some Vueling aircraft have been given a name. The Barcelona 08820 Spain" - Address in Catalan:
one registered EC-KBU, for instance, is called “Be Vueling "VUELING AIRLINES S.A. Parc de Negocis Mas Blau
my friend”[19], EC-KCU sports a “My name is Ling. Vue Edifici Muntadas C/ Berguedà 1 08820 El Prat de
Ling”[20] and the A319 is “Un Vueling s’il-vous-plaît” (Fr. Llobregat – Barcelona (Espanya)"
for “A Vueling, please”).[21][22] [14] Vueling Cooperation with MTV
[15] punto. program, vueling.com
[16] Investors,
Shareholders and Investors vueling.com
Accidents and incidents [17] Vueling fleet list at planespotters.net
VY9127,
On 5 August, 2009, Vueling Airlines Flight VY9127 from [18] Vueling plans to add 6 aircraft in 2011, atwonline.com,
Paris-Orly (France) to Alicante (Spain),[23] with 169 pas- August 12, 2010
sengers on board, an Airbus A320-200 in Clickair livery [19] Vueling aircraft names
(registration EC-ICQ) was being pushed back. Then the [20] Vueling A320 EC-KCU
right-hand CFM56 engine started to emit black smoke. [21] AeroContact
Emergency services responded and arrived within 2 min- [22] Planespotters - Fleet list
utes, and the crew initiated an evacuation via slides. The [23] Fire breaks out on plane in Paris, bbc.co.uk
engine fire was quickly put out. In spite of only eight pas- [24] Plane catches fire at Paris airport, NTDTV
sengers receiving minor injuries in the evacuation, the
cabin-crew’s panicky reaction was criticised.[24] Neither
the airport installations nor the other surrounding air-
External links
craft were damaged, but Vueling aircraft remained un- • Vueling Airlines official website
usable. A replacement Airbus A320-200 (registration EC-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Vueling Airlines
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vueling_Airlines&oldid=464058094"
Categories:
• Companies listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange
• Airlines of Spain
• Low-cost airlines
• Companies based in Catalonia
• European Low Fares Airline Association
• Transport in Catalonia
• Airlines established in 2004
• Iberia Group
• Apax Partners companies
• 2004 establishments in Spain
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