Vueling

[wallp]

Vueling seem to be going through a period of massive growth in the UK. With new routes opening up at LGW and soon to start operations from LTN, they seem to have decided to put some serious focus into the UK.

Makes me wonder what and where next from them from LGW, LTN and elsewhere in the UK?

[Letsflycwl]

Vueling has seen some big expansion at CWL over the last 3-4 years

ALC, BCN, AGP and PMI

Also heard CWL are chasing additional destinations too from Vueling

[tibbs87]

I believe Vueling are also opening up a route from Liverpool & Newcastle to Barcelona this year, possibly more to follow?

[FFHKG]

They operated a series of LPL/BCN flights over the xmas period and are scheduled to start LPL/BCN x3 weekly from March. Must feel fairly confident about this as they are up against both EZ (X12 pw) & FR (x7 pw) on this route.

[GAZMO]

They tried Belfast, three weekly (BHD to BCN) in 2015, not a success and withdrew for 2016

[LBIA]

Vueling will open a new route between LBA and BCN operating 2x weekly (MON & FRI) from March 25th. They will be up against 4x weekly EXS & 3x weekly MON.

[EK77WNCL]

NCL x3 weekly from 19th March up against EZY x6 weekly, they operated 4 flights over the Christmas period too

[Ametyst1]

In time, I could see Vueling taking over the BA sun routes from Gatwick.

[Jetblast79]

Many fully booked flights for summer 16 in the UK market. A big expansion is cooming during 2017. BCN, ALC, AGP, PMI, ...LON, MAN, BHX, EDI, ....

[stab3.5up]

Very poorly marketed in Belfast probably didn't help route being pulled. Sad to see it go. Doubt it will be back in Belfast. DUB probably didn't help as they have no APD

[AvTom]

I think they should have another go at Southampton - when they first tried the economy was awful and there was no promotion for the route to Barcelona. If it works from CWL it can work from SOU, and with the way Flybe piss around with routes every 5 minutes customers will be more than happy for a change.

[GAZMO]

Stab
I know you cannot get the advertised lead in fares that the airlines publish, but Vueling were advertising fares from £46.99 and Easyjet from £23.99.
Maybe the GB market may be different with greater population

[MKY661]

Is there any chance we could merge this thread with these? Then we'll have a Vueling thread which can be found easily (Don't worry wallp not your fault):
http://www.pprune.org/airlines-airports-routes/464551-vueling.html
http://www.pprune.org/airlines-airports-routes/566925-vueling.html

[AerRyan]

Last time I checked Belfast was in GB.

[EK77WNCL]

Jetblast79, I hope you know something! I do hope you're right, I would love to see more from NCL, more destinations (maybe unserved), more competition, lower prices... I mean haway ye cannit gan wrong with flights to Spain from the toon...

[br8fmr]

"Last time I checked Belfast was in GB."


To be accurate GB is the largest island in the British Isles. That is why we have the UK of GB and NI

[Itchin McCrevis]

Correct, Northern Ireland is part of the "United Kingdom" but not part of "Great Britain" - the latter only being England, Scotland and Wales.

Hence "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"

Normally a useful one for the Pub Quiz.

[AerRyan]

Interesting one! Thanks :)

[queenvic]

I'm seriously concerned that BA LHR shorthaul operation will be transfered to Vueling in the future.

IAG latest presentations clearly states all the shorthaul aircraft in the 4 airlines (BA, Aer Lingus, Vueling, Iberia) will all be configured the same by 2020....e.g. 186seats on A320. Having the flex save spec cabin meaning the rear gallery will be half the current size...making it impossible to offer the current level of service due to space restrictions.

With the significant increase in flights to the UK Vueling are increasing the brand awareness across the uk..... and Alex Cruz (current head of Vueling) is taking over at BA in April.

I worry the direction the company is heading in.

[wiggy]

queenvic

I worry the direction the company is heading in.

I guess we'll get a clue if BA have to wetlease out any Shorthaul services in the near future...

[HeartyMeatballs]

I can't see the service being effected too much by the reconfiguration. A majority of the service (drink and biscuit) can be contained in the one trolley. Even a light breakfast/sandwich and drinks could be all be done by the same trolley.

On the few routes where a hot meal is provided, more thought would be needed but it can still be done. A large oven up front and one at the back will be absolutely sufficient. There is no need for these to be served on a full size tray, so you would easily have the space to do so.

They're a profit making business and have to do whatever they see fit in order to provide long term profitability and stability to their short haul operation.

I can't see BASSA allowing up to 186 without an additional crew member, so Indont think passengers will notice a difference.

[Boeing737-8]

New route
Luton to Zurich
Starts 12th June
6 weekly

[22/04]

Why is the transfer of BA services to Vuelling worthy of serious concern? It might not happen quite like that....

There will be routes with a high percentage of transfer traffic and where the British Airways brand is important that would probably at least on paper stay with BA from a brand point of view. It may be worth retaining Club on some routes too - although when I last travelled Marseille-London on a weekend flight everyone in Club was travelling on miles- a huge outlay for no return.

But on most routes surely a fleet of identical aircraft, with identical configuration service levels and ultimately crew T&Cs gives IAG ultimate operational flexibility whatever it says on the outside of the aeroplane- that has to be an advantage business/costs wise.

[Ribble56]

Can anyone tell me whether Vueling interline or do you have to recheck in for a onwards journey I think I know the answer but can anyone confirm no interlining.

[AirGuru]

Can anyone tell me whether Vueling interline or do you have to recheck in for a onwards journey I think I know the answer but can anyone confirm no interlining.

Depends where you're flying from. From Cardiff they codeshare Iberia and British Airways so if made on one booking through the BA or IB website then should be able to check in for all flights.

[Ribble56]

It's Liverpool to Barcelona then onwards to San Sebastian but a change in travel plans means we don't want to take up the San Sebastian leg so I'd like to check in Liverpool /Barcelona only

[AirGuru]

It's Liverpool to Barcelona then onwards to San Sebastian but a change in travel plans means we don't want to take up the San Sebastian leg so I'd like to check in Liverpool /Barcelona only

If you do that through the VY website and check in for LPL-BCN only you should be ok. Worth notifying the staff on the check in desk so that your luggage doesn't end up in San Sebastian.

[Ribble56]

Yes it was booked through the Vueling website.Thanks for the prompt reply

[BigFrank]

All day today in Catalonia, Vueling has taken a pasting in the media. Lunchtime tv news programmes were full of horror stories of massive delays and/ or cancellations at BCN "all relating to Vueling."

This evening the main local evening news programme stuck the boot in big time. They alleged that 1 000+ movements were scheduled at BCN today with Vueling responsible for about 600. And they showed long queues of disgruntled passengers and interviewed many of them expressing their anger. The programme quoted as fact that Vueling has recently sacked about 60 pilots, that it does not have a fleet of a size adequate for its schedule and that it has "refused an offer from Iberia to lend a hand."

The lack of support personnel and or media presence from Vueling was highlighted (though one senior executive David García Blancas was interviewed; making wholly generic and non-specific excuses for these massive delays) as was the allegedly false attribution of problems earlier this week to French ATC with the question "but why did it just affect Vueling?"

TU action by Swissair ground handling as well as a possible work to rule by Vueling personnel were also alluded to.

They reported that there are similar problems for Vueling all around Spain today, mentioning, from memory, Bilbao, Alicante, Malaga Madrid and Mallorca if not more. Paris too. The use of leased aircraft without markings to cover gaps was highlighted.

The appropriate Catalan minister appeared on screen to urge locals to "fill in the complaints form" which certainly was even funnier than Boris's speech yesterday morning.


The same programme is now reporting as it ends that 80 "pilots and crew" were dismissed but then rowed back by saying "though maybe they have just left for jobs with better conditions elsewhere." The refusal of help from Iberia claim was repeated.


It seems from this that its not just my easyJet shareholding that was misconceived.

[azz767]

I know VUE wet lease aircraft over summer normally, but they've got a Wamos air 747 operating today, are things that desperate that they'll lease a 747? Noticed privilege 757 and 767's operating recently and Titan. This really seems to be turning into a crisis

[BigFrank]

Two more days of unrelenting hostile media coverage here in Catalonia for Vueling.

Press and tv insist that though marginally better yesterday afternoon (Saturday) the broad picture remains one of multiple cancellations, of endemic delays and of a wilderness of disgruntled passengers asserting that both the concept of providing an airline service as per contract as well as complying with law EU261/2004 is not taken seriously by Vueling.

The Catalan ministry involved has promised to send somebody from their city centre offices to BCN to find out what is happening.

Tomorrow !

But the company has gone to ground and is apparently refusing to answer press queries. Radio and tv reporters were forced to use the airline's website for up to date information in these circumstances.

I can only hope as an IAG shareholder that all the executives and press wallahs who seem so indifferent to this slew of terrible publicity are in fact currently hunched over their computer screens trying to work out where they take the company post-Brexit.

And not sitting quaffing champagne and eating strawberries at Wimbledon whilst the company's reputation is further thrashed by the hour here in Catalonia, which is arguably Vueling's single biggest market.

[DjerbaDevil]

Friends tell me that Vueling is all over the national Spanish Sunday press and on television news today due to flight cancellations and long delays.

The Catalonian Regional Government has summoned the Company to a meeting on Monday at 1700hrs local time to give full explanations for the lack of customer care and failure to provide information in advance of cancellations and long delays of their programmed flights these last few days. They are also being asked to provide assurances and a plan that they have matters in hand for the future.

The word is out that they don’t have enough flight and cabin crews to man their aircraft due to very low wages and poor working conditions, all of which is very difficult to resolve overnight, so tomorrow’s meeting between Vueling and the Catalonian Regional Government should be quite interesting.

[BigFrank]

This morning Vueling are due to meet the Spanish central government to address the situation. In the late afternoon they must meet the equivalent body in Catalonia.

The rôle played by AENA, the recently privatised Spanish airport operator has been questioned lately too.

Given the almost total lack of pro-active intervention by Spanish/ Catalan governmental bodies in support of the consumer, on past performance, Vueling has nothing to fear from these meetings.

Vueling TU leader Guadalupe Romero denied on air any form of hidden work to rule.

This morning at about 09:25 local Vueling spokesperson David Garcia finally and very belatedly made a live appearance on radio.

* When pressed to explain the chaos attributed most of the problems to the knock on effect of the cancellation of 56 flights on 28th June caused by French ATC and the need to re-allocate 8 000 passengers affected. (He more than slightly undermined his own case by stating that another low cost [sic] airline had had 176 flights cancelled the same day.)

* In a longish interview he denied that Vueling has cut out all summer peak aircraft leases and asserted that 6 are in place for July and August. He also gave figures for many extra personnel both pilots and cabin staff. Also a sudden increase of staff to handle complaints.

Most worryingly of all, long term in this farrago, for IAG shareholders, the performance of the previous Vueling chief executive Alex Cruz who has now moved to head up BA been questioned, with what degree of accuracy I cannot know, recently.

One final observation, it is impossible as a long time resident of Catalonia not to compare and contrast the media and/ or governmental kicking which Vueling is currently receiving with the hyper-indulgent fawning obsequiousness which has characterised their relationship with the infamous lowClass airline and its jesterKing which/ who has run multi million euro rings round them and incited them to build gin-palace airports at Reus and to a lesser extent at Girona which are almost empty 9 months of the year.

[whitelighter]

Flying BCN-LGW with vueling late on the 27th of July.

What is the consensus? Book with another airline???

[BigFrank]

After roughly 3 weeks of relative silence, including assurances by Vueling to both Madrid and Barcelona Governments that "there will be no more cancellations or significant delays as we have hired enormous amounts of extra staff and aircraft" this past week/end has seen the Catalan Government skewered by Vueling who, despite the above assurance, have apparently cancelled 3 routes out of BCN.

Further, after some very heavy rain here on Friday evening, and the brief need to close one of the 2 main runways at BCN for an unrelated(?) problem, a high degree of delays and cancellations were reported at the weekend. Mainly for Vueling. "But also for BA, AA and Iberia."

¡ Or so the local media report !

And you though that Hitler's favourite Fleet Street title was useless?

[Porky Speedpig]

Titan 767 operating today

[HeartyMeatballs]

Vueling to close Bussels, Palermo and Catania bases. Sad news for based crews.

[rutankrd]

Vueling to close Bussels, Palermo and Catania bases. Sad news for based crews.

Not sure that any of those three "bases" have any local dedicated crews and frames - All seem to be "W" or simple returns from other locations.

Primarily - Rome/Florence Paris Barcelona and Alicante stations

[Buster the Bear]

runtankrd you are wrong.

Spanish low-cost carrier (LCC) Vueling, which is owned by International Airlines Group (IAG), has closed three aircraft bases and is rolling out a new restructuring strategy, “Vueling NEXT,” which also includes a new management structure.

A Vueling spokeswoman confirmed to ATW the airline has closed its Italian bases in Catania and Palermo, as well as Brussels in Belgium. Each base had a single 180-seat Airbus A320.

She said “this does not imply the cancellation of routes,” as the majority will continue to be served by non-based aircraft, but Vueling has cut services from Brussels to Oporto and Lisbon in Portugal.

“These changes are a consequence of a restructuring on the network in Europe focusing on main markets for Vueling as Spain, France and Italy,” she told ATW.

Under the Vueling NEXT plan, the LCC said it will place more emphasis on customer experience and minimize costs through improved operational efficiency.

“Vueling’s objective is to become a benchmark in Europe by consolidating its position at Barcelona-El Prat Airport and securing part of Europe’s growth market over the next few years,” Vueling said, adding the consolidation aims to regain customer confidence, and drive growth and profitability.

To support the revamp, Vueling has expanded its management committee from four to seven members and hired a number of new executives. “These new appointments are a fundamental part of a wide restructure,” Vueling said.

Former Southwest Airlines VP-corporate strategy Mike Delehant has been named as Vueling chief strategy officer and will be in charge of Vueling NEXT. Vueling said Delehant will be “pivotal in the airline’s turnaround.”

Calum Laming will join from Etihad Airways, where he was VP-guest experience, to take up the role of Vueling chief customer officer. Laming has held marketing and customer-related positions in several companies, including Procter & Gamble, Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand.

Laming’s team will include head of customer experience Rodolfo Oliveira, who joined Vueling earlier this summer after being in charge of quality and efficiency at Brazilian carrier Azul, and head of customer care Patricia González, who previously directed and managed the contact center at French media company Canal+.

Existing Vueling COO Valentin Lago will head up the operational efficiency improvements, supported by new head of operations control Warren Gravell, who has over 25 years’ operations experience with airlines including Gulf Air, UK LCC easyJet and Singaporean LCC Tiger Airways. Rubén Camberos will join from Aeromexico to lead crew planning and former Iberia Express executive Carlos Montesinos has been named as head of cabin services.

Former consultant Luis Galí, who has experience with Daemon Quest, Accenture and PwC, is joining the airline as head of marketing and commercial strategy.

Iliana Cruz has been named as head of revenue management and pricing. Cruz has worked for several airlines, including Latvian carrier airBaltic, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines.

Communication and HR will also be represented in the management committee for the first time by Ana Fernández and Cristian Rodríguez, respectively.

[Seljuk22]

Recent analysis
Vueling passes 100 million passenger mark from Barcelona (http://www.anna.aero/2017/04/10/vueling-passes-100m-passengers-barcelona/)

Germany and UK down this summer, Spain market up (maybe due to feeder for new low cost long haul airline Level?)

[OltonPete]

Anyone have an idea re the potential cull of flights early October onwards from BHX & MAN?

BHX - TFS, ALC & AGP all gone by the first week in October except for a few peak dates, Barcelona is weekly for most of October at least but stops briefly in the New Year. Orly continues at the moment.

Manchester - TFS and FCO the same gone by October.

Seems a bit drastic but intense competition of course at both.

[LAX_LHR]

EDI-FCO also appears to be gone too, and of course a few routes culled this summer like EDI-ORY, LPL-BCN, NCL-BCN, LBA-BCN and the non starter AMS-MAN.

Seems Vueling couldn't quite break into the UK market as expected, probably not helped by some horrendous OTP issues (there were 2 occasions I travelled through MAN T3 at around 9am to see the previous nights Vueling flight (to ALC and TFS) delayed by over 18 hours).

[The96er]

No surprises with ALC and TFS from MAN. Passenger figures have been very hit and miss. Intense competition for these routes combined with very poor punctuality and Vuelings lack of general awareness amongst the U.K public didn't help either. FCO I'd of thought would of survived with VY slowly building a hub in FCO but most likely fell prey to the more established competition of FR/Jet2 offering much better frequencies.

[CabinCrewe]

with Level being pushed at BCN, I wonder why thats not being expanded rather than reduced. But yes too much competition on routes with an airline that noones heard of. That might be my worry with Blue Air at LPL too.

[Waldo1]

Aer Lingus is the perfect solution for IAG low cost offer for the UK

[compton3bravo]

Aer Lingus tried it at Gatwick a few years ago, didn't work.

[Una Due Tfc]

Aer Lingus tried it at Gatwick a few years ago, didn't work.

True, but that was pre IAG in fairness. They'd be fed by BA if they went again, but unlikely all the same.

[Seljuk22]

Do IAG (namely BA) really want VY to be a strong LCC in UK beside FR, EZY, LS or do BA want to capture the holiday market by their own along with BA Cityflyer?

If UK-Spain, which is a big and important market, does not work for VY what other markets they are looking for (with their fleet of more than 100 aircrafts)?
FR, EZY and others fly across Europe and not only in the UK or Spain. Competition is everywhere now.

[nguba]

Aside from brand awareness and OTP issues, the schedules for many of these routes was so random, VY simply wasn't competitive. If you're only offering 1-2 return flights a week you're limiting your market considerably.

[Seljuk22]

UK-Spain market analysis
UK-Spain market saw biggest growth in over 20 years in 2016 (http://www.anna.aero/2017/05/22/uk-spain-market-massive-growth-2016/)

[Need to Know Basis]

If the OTP is not good. Try the website. It is the worst website to book a ticket, print a boarding card. The English used must be the Spanish version more like Spanlish. We use them for LGW-RNS as to the wider family. Not just me but everyone else states the website is at best amateur but crap. Very hard work.

[FQTLSteve]

I've used their website for every journey with them and not found it a problem, although I've never printed a boarding card as I always fly with checked bags so get it printed at the desk.

[toledoashley]

I have wondered why BA/EI/IB and VY dont use the same website architecture. You would have thought that would make sense for IAG and lower costs...?

[All names taken]

Was never going to work in the UK market. I'm still not even sure how to pronounce it and virtually no-one among Joe Public has ever heard of them.
Add in lousy punctuality and compare it to the several other well-known and frankly better brands....I'm surprised that IAG/BA ever thought that it could have possibly worked.....or does it say more about how little they understand the UK market outside of LHR....?

[nguba]

I have wondered why BA/EI/IB and VY dont use the same website architecture. You would have thought that would make sense for IAG and lower costs...?

I'm sure all IAG airlines will move to a single booking engine in time.

[FQTLSteve]

All names taken, Well I think you're being very harsh. It's easy to pronounce as a Spanish word (vueling as in pueblo) and the product is very good, excellent in flight service, and no charity, scratch cards, spare currency insularity collections, etc. options on type of seat, network airline facilities, One World frequent traveller points, code share with BA and IB. Cabin crew are very friendly, it's a great experience for a LCC. Just wanted to give another viewpoint.

[bar none]

Travelled TFS MAN recently on Vueling. I found the website easy to navigate, and was very informative. The aircraft was immaculate, the cabin crew very presentable, and the flight arrived one hour early! This was no doubt due to a padded schedule and tailwinds. The only criticism was a poor choice of alcoholic drinks.
If Vueling produced a regular and consistent schedule to TFS they would be my airline of choice.

[inOban]

Since they're based in BCN, I had always assumed the word was Catalan....

And surely posters are ignoring the large number of Spanish people who visit the UK for work or pleasure? Aren't they a significant market for a Spanish/Catalan airline?

[runway30]

I think a word that UK passengers seem to pronounce in 3 different ways is always going to be a problem. I know that the management of IAG recognise the problem in the U.K. but decided to live with it because it works in Spain.

[vctenderness]

V is a B in Spanish. So it's Bueling.

[Bengt]

Actually B and V are pronounced in a similar way in Spanish. It can be both Bueling and Vueling. I have struggled with Spanish for some time but I have still not seen a good explanation when it should be pronounced B and when it should be B....

[inOban]

According to my research, in some Catalan-speaking areas such as the Balearic islands, it's definitely pronounced v.

[TartinTon]

It's actually more of a "bw" sound as in bwuelling...probably the closest you will get as a non-native speaker!

[vctenderness]

You say tomato I say tomaato let's call the whole thing off........

[All names taken]

It's as daft as calling a British airline 'Bough' and expecting it to be a success in the rest of Europe..... ie meaningless and unpronounceable to most people - just like Vueling.
The name of an airline is important to its success eg Easyjet

For the same reason Level is likely to stay level and fail to take off.

[vikdream]

In standard Spanish in Spain, "b" and "v" are pronounced the same way, which is /b/. It is true that in some Catalan dialects they are pronounced differently, but Catalan is another language.

Wikipedia in English gives you the Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbwɛliŋ] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Catalan);

So there you go, problem solved.

English versions are numerous, but that is the official Spanish pronunciation.

I don't know whether it has been said already, but their name comes from Spanish "vuelo" (flight) and the English suffix -ing. Their marketing in the early years consisted in a mixture of Spanish and English words, later with other languages. That gave them a "fresh" look and attracted loads of young people. They had a cloud as a symbol as well. This all went with the merge with Clickair, which was a bit sad.

EDIT (answer to previous post): for most Spanish people, "Easyjet" is as unpronounceable as "Vueling" for British Speakers, mainly because they don't have some of the sounds, as the "j" (pronounced differently in Spanish). What about Lufthansa? Wizzair? British Airways? Monarch? the last two especially are hard work for some people in Spain.

I can't see that as a problem. The name is catchy. "Volotea" for instance must be surely harder to pronounce well for British people.

[compton3bravo]

I shudder to think how they pronounce it in the Basque region, plenty of 'Ks' and Xs' I would suggest! Have great difficulty in getting my head round the Basque language but unbelievably friendly people.

[Giggey]

Apologies for not searching through all the posts but for a relative of mine which has very recently invited to selections with Vueling could you shed some light on the Spanish requirements?

I hear that you should get the level 4 within 6 month now is that correct?

Regards/Gracias

[Seljuk22]

IAG officially announced the acqusition of NIKI for a total of EUR 36.5 million.
The airline should be a subsidiary of Vueling with 15 A320-family aircraft including 740 employees and slots at VIE, DUS, MUC, PMI and ZRH.
IAG - International Airlines Group - Noticias (http://www.es.iairgroup.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=240950&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2324267)

[BCALBOY]

I thought Niki Fleet was mainly 321s

[SWBKCB]

Flight has the following quote:



To be incorporated in Austria, the new subsidiary will operate separately from Vueling initially, says IAG. The new company plans to employ around 740 former Niki employees to run the operation, and further details of its branding and route network will be announced "in due course", the group adds.

"Niki was the most financially viable part of Air Berlin and its focus on leisure travel means it's a great fit with Vueling," states IAG chief executive Willie Walsh. "This deal will enable Vueling to increase its presence in Austria, Germany and Switzerland and provide the region's consumers with more choice of low-cost air travel

The Niki assets include up to 15 Airbus A320-family aircraft and slots at several airports including Vienna, Dusseldorf, Munich, Palma and Zurich.

[southside bobby]

Random search produces BCALBOY as being basically correct at shutdown.

[chaps1954]

A320 family covers A319- A321

[southside bobby]

Of course...I just thought that rather than a cut & paste as an earlier posting above & noting another had taken the trouble to state his thoughts I considered I would be as specific too in this instance & state the operating fleet consisted mainly it appears of A321`s on shutdown.It perhaps does have a meaningful point as it reflects the greater capacity theoretically available to VY at handover.

[MKY661]

So Either Vueling Absorbs Niki, Vueling Creates a New Austrian Subsidiary or Niki to come back into the Scene as a subsidiary of Vueling?

[toledoashley]

My understanding is it will be run on an Austrian AOC at least for the meantime as 'Vueling Austria', but I imagine branded as just 'Vueling'.

[Habana2118]

It will be good to see Vueling grow again but hopefully in a more substainable and sensible manner, Lufthansa’s low cost unit Eurowings is now a major force... would be good to see Vueling offer more flts from the UK, people in the Midlands and North along with Scotland have less to bordering no options with BA to earn and burn avios so this surely could be a market for IAG! Don’t just give it all to EZY, FR and LS.

[Rutan16]

Habana IAG will want to see revenues and returns in cash not simply avios redemption !

Don’t see this NIKI / VUELING benifiting the UK markets any time soon.

Still struggling to see the benifit to IAG in general in all honesty

[toledoashley]

IAG have pan-European aspirations for both Vueling and Level - so this would be a small step towards that.

[Seljuk22]

INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES GROUP UNSUCCESSFUL IN NIKI ASSETS BID
International Airlines Group (IAG) announced on December 29, 2017 that it had agreed to buy assets of the Austrian airline NIKI under the German insolvency process, subject to customary closing conditions.
On January 12, 2018 NIKI insolvency proceedings opened in Austria initiating a new sales process. IAG resubmitted its bid on January 19, 2018 and has been advised today that the bid was unsuccessful.
IAG is disappointed that NIKI will not be able to develop and grow stronger as part of the Group.IAG Printer Friendly Version - News Release (http://www.iairgroup.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=240949&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=2327829)

Good old Niki Lauda bought Niki.

[paully]

Hmm..sounds like Lauda is trying to make a souffle rise twice..A totally different ballgame now to when he last ran an operation on his own. I wish him well but.....

[Plane.Silly]

I doubt it'll be EXACTLY the same as last time. He'll have brought a new team in with proper experience, and who know how to run the outfit.
Will be interesting to see where the intentions lie, either with local flights or a shift to slightly longer flights

So Vueling can relax for now, less potential for overlap on competing in-house carriers

[Habana2118]

So Vueling has got the Flybe slots at LGW, ALC already launched, wonder if they plan to build up the LGW operation with a larger presence..

[True Blue]

Does Alc use a Flybe slot? With a 9.00 pm departure, not sure it does, but I'm not sure.

[Habana2118]

I think you maybe right... prob not a Flybe slot

[Cazza_fly]

I think you maybe right... prob not a Flybe slot

Slot times don't have to be like for like.

[toledoashley]

And effectively slots are in IAG ownership, so shouldn’t be too difficult to do slot swaps with BA.