Clickair Spain

[heidelberg]

Want to fly AGP to BCN in December.
What are Clickair like?
Are there any rumours about their longevity (as an ongoing business) - or otherwise?

[amanoffewwords]

Mrs Words, mini-Words and associated extended family use them regularly between LHT and La Coruna - they report that most aircraft are new or recently delivered, are reasonably comfortable and generally speaking provide a good service. I believe they are a subsidiary of Iberia - or have very strong links between them + maintenance is done by whoever does Iberia's.

Not sure about sustainability of their routes, finances etc as not my industry.

[nivsy]

Think Clickair and Vueling have merged which creates a rather large LCC?



Nivsy

[malagajohn]

Merger process still not completed but will be some time soon

Iberia still remain an importnat shareholder in the new company

Clickair operate the AGP-BCN following Iberias withdrawal from the route - mostly on time aircraft are newish but well maintained

[Seat62K]

I understand that the merged company will be known as Vueling - a much better choice than Clickair, in my view.

[Wirelock]

agreed... vueling a much better choice
new aircraft , better MX

[GatoVolador]

Clickair is a low-cost carrier based in Barcelona, that started operations in October 2006. It was created (basically) by Iberia and Nefinsa (the owner of Iberia Regional Air Nostrum) in order to substitute Iberia in point-to-point short-haul operations from any airport in Spain except Madrid, which is the territory of Iberia. Clickair's aim is triple: (1) substitute IB and its product in BCN with a product that matches better the point-to-point needs; (2) reduce the costs (the staff of Clickair makes much less money than what an Iberia crew makes and it's Europe's second lowest cost structure after Ryanair); and (3) hurt Vueling and Spanair (which was done because Vueling had to merge with Clickair and Spanair is in trouble). Iberia is in charge of the handling and the maintenance.

Basically, Clickair offers the product that the customers need for such a short flight: puntuality (Clickair has a 94% on time performance), price, loyalty recognition (Clickair is part of Iberia Plus), flexibility (Clickair allows changes if you pay a fee), and some small frills (free magazine, lounge access for Iberia Plus premium passengers, the flights count to become an Iberia Plus elite member, assigned seats and online seat selection, possibility to print all your boarding passes at the time of the purchase, Clickair tends to use jetways to board the passengers, the sell tickets through Amadeus using the Iberia code, etc.).

The product is very simple (the passengers revealed that this is what they need), so no food, no newspapers, no business class, etc. It's just a "sit down and we will take you from A to B". Then, if you want you can buy frills and add them to your basic ticket: you can buy a "premium seat" (emergency exits with more legroom or seats in the front of the aircraft in order to disembark as soon as the door is open) or a "premium plus" seat (the 3 first rows + seat in the middle remains empty). Also if you buy a "business" fare you have the right to get triple IB Plus milleage, a free checked baggage, a free premium plus seat, etc. etc. More frills are offered: food (buy-on-board), lounge access (to be bought online), etc.

Clickair has 25 A320 aircrafts, all in a 180Y confliguration with very tight pitch. It's difficult to reach your seat because of the lack of space, but then once you are sit, and because of the ultra slim RECARO reats with the magazine pocket on the top of the seat, legroom is OK (I'd say that if you are 1.82m or less, then it'll be enough or reasonable for you, but if you're taller, it's going to be too tight, so I'd pay the premium seat). Clickair has no IFE. Some aircrafts are new, some others are inherited from Iberia but they really look fresh because of the new cabin. (I recently flew an A320 born in 1991 and it looked normal.)

My Clickair experiences were overall positive. It's true that they are very punctual, and it's amazing to see how they are able to make 30 min layoffs in large airports such as Barcelona and keeping the aircraft in a pretty good condition. I found the aircrafts clean and well maintained. The crews are almost "female only" and very young (in their early 20s). I don't know why, but either they are veeery pretty or they seem an employee of Carrefour (hehehe) with a bit vulgar look. In general, they are smiling and friendly. The pilots are from all over the EU with a large community of pilots from "cheap" countries such as Portugal or Ireland. Good impression: smooth landings in general. The food is expensive (but as expensive as at the airport), but good quality (the vegetarian sandwich and the one of roast beef and "lomo de sajonia" are good, but please, do not order the spanish ham one, please) and Clickair really has "always" availability of what you want. The sandwiches are quite big. They also have a good duty free shop.

The downsides are that they don't have drop-off counters for the passengers checked-in online (as Iberia does), and check-in can be quite long. Moreover, they handle a lot of passengers with a relatively small number of counters, and even if the staff is efficient, I'd like to make it faster. A second negative point would be that in some flights the passengers are really "low-cost", with a lot of noisy teens. It depends on the route, but sometimes I'm feed up with them. Then, I'd say that it's bad that they make you pay you baggage (unless you have a ticket issued with an Iberia code) and also you have to pay for your credit card and so on. So please, make sure that you already bought your "baggage ticket" online, because otherwise you'll have to pay a higher fee and what it's worse: you will have to wait 10 minutes in order to buy this surcharge before going to the check-in line.

Regarding the merger with Vueling, even if they will keep the name "Vueling", actually in my opinion the winner is Clickair, because it's Iberia and Nefinsa who will dominate in the board of the new Vueling, as the core shareholders of Vueling will go or keep a minoritary stake. Basically they keep the name of the "looser" because (1) Vueling is already listed on the stock exchange; (2) Vueling already operates from MAD and if they kept the brand "Clickair" they should spend money in order to make the inhabitants of Madrid familiar with a brand that they don't know; and (3) Vueling is a brand which is not linked to Iberia, and Iberia wants to hide behind their LCC subsidiary.

The process to merge is working but Clickair and Vueling are not merged yet, as they are still asking for an authorisation to the competition authorities and so on. By december they shouldn't be merged, as the process is long and I think that up to March 2009 we will not see a merged company. In any case, if the merger speeds up, your ticket will be transferred to the new Vueling, whose product is very similar.

Regards.