Volotea has expanded strongly versus the pre-pandemic, with flights up by 16%. A different picture emerges if seats for sale are examined instead. They’re up by 38%, especially thanks to the strong use of the A320, a type introduced last year, joining its A319s. Its lower-capacity B717s were last used in January 2021.

Nine new routes

Volotea has introduced the following nine routes in the past week or so. They include the domestic French airport pair of Lille to Calvi, which materialized soon after the LCC opened its Lille base in April. Separately, started Lille-Varna recently.

You’ll see that five routes have only Volotea operating. Of these, four – Caligari-Bilbao, Nantes-Brindisi, Naples-Pantelleria, Venice-Kalamata – are brand-new: they’ve not seen another airline for at least two decades.

1. Ajaccio-Luxembourg: started June 4th, up to 2x weekly; against Luxair (2x weekly)
2. Bordeaux-Athens: May 28th, 2x weekly; Aegean (up to 4x weekly)
3. Cagliari-Bilbao: May 28th, 1x weekly; no direct competition
4. Cagliari-Nice: May 30th, 2x weekly; no direct competition
5. Lille-Calvi: June 4th, 1x weekly; Air France (1x)
6. Nantes-Athens: May 29th, 2x weekly; Aegean (up to 3x), Transavia France (up to 4x weekly)
7. Nantes-Brindisi: May 30th, 2x weekly; no direct competition
8. Naples-Pantelleria: May 28th, 1x weekly; no direct competition
9. Venice-Kalamata: May 31st, 1x weekly; no direct competition

Later in June, Volotea will inaugurate Nantes to Zakynthos, served 1x weekly from the 16th. And in July, 16 more routes will open. Five will revolve around its brand-new base at Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées, opening on July 1st. Most important will be the link to Paris Orly, served 2x daily. It’s a public service obligation route and is therefore funded. It’ll mark the first time that Volotea has served Orly.

Nantes is Volotea’s leading airport

This summer, Volotea has more seats for sale from Nantes, France, than anywhere else. It has 41 routes from the airport, up from 29 in summer 2019. Seats have increased by a whopping 50%. The domestic link to Montpellier has more flights than any other, followed by Ajaccio, Bastia, Palma, and Figari.

1. Nantes: Volotea has 657,000 departing seats
2. Olbia: 513,000
3. Cagliari: 466,000
4. Rome Fiumicino: 359,000
5. Venice: 302,000
6. Athens: 260,000
7. Verona: 255,000
8. Strasbourg: 251,000
9. Naples: 225,000
10. Lille: 223,000

There have been significant changes in the top ten list since S19. Olbia, in Sardinia, has climbed from 17th place to second, while Cagliari has jumped from 11th to third and Lille from 29th to tenth. Rome Fiumicino wasn’t even served in S19. In contrast, Verona, Verona, and Naples have become less important, and Bordeaux, Palermo, and Toulouse are no longer in the top ten.

Italy remains Volotea’s leading nation, followed by France and Spain. Despite the rise of Olbia, Cagliari, and Rome, Italy has grown the least of the three largest country markets. Capacity has risen by 30% (still very strong, especially from the highest base), against 46% for France and 76% for Spain.

Source: Civil Aviation Authority – Qatar