While European low-cost airlines started out by running quick flights between nearby cities in the 1990s, the model quickly expanded to include destinations that were farther and farther away.
Nordic airlines such as PLAY and Norse Atlantic (NRSAF) now run multiple flights between the East Coast of the U.S. and different European capitals, while UK carrier EasyJet (EJTTF) just announced new flights to African countries such as Egypt and Cabo Verde.
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Barcelona is a very popular tourist destination.
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Be prepared to see more ‘long-haul flights from Barcelona,’ airline says
Over in Spain, there is the low-cost offshoot of Iberia Express (Iberia is Spain’s flagship carrier) and Barcelona-based Vueling (VLRS) , but also the LEVEL brand. The low-cost carrier has traditionally operated under the Iberia code but is currently in the process of being transitioned to an independent airline under International Airlines Group (ICAGY) .
In an interview with Madrid-based newspaper El Economista first reported by Simple Flying, Level Chief Executive Rafael Jiménez Hoyos said that Level plans to increase both the number and frequency of its flights to the United States.
At the moment, it operates seven routes from Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN) — five of these are to U.S. cities like New York, Boston and San Francisco.
Breaking off as an independent airline is contingent on obtaining the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) that the airline is currently pursuing.
Jiménez Hoyos told El Economista that independency will allow Level to “make decisions about frequencies and destinations in a more agile and flexible way” as well as “contribute to [more] long-haul flights from Barcelona.”
The airline does not plan to compete with several low-cost airlines based in Madrid, but instead build out a hub of transatlantic flights in Barcelona.
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‘In the same way that Aer Lingus has it in Dublin’
“This certificate will allow us to move towards a new scenario to enhance our growth proposal in the future,” Jiménez Hoyos said in Spanish. “The brand wants to maintain and reinforce its hub at the main Catalan airfield in the same way that Aer Lingus (AIRXF) has it in Dublin and British Airways in London.”
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Statistics that influenced this year’s network decisions by U.S. airlines such as United Airlines (UAL) and Delta (DAL) show that Barcelona and other destinations in Southern Europe are particularly in-demand from U.S. tourists looking to fly in directly rather than transfer in a larger European capital.
While no new route specifics will be announced until the AOC license is obtained, Level has recently also completed the purchase of its seventh Airbus A330-200 (EADSF) plane to further its plans to increase frequency.
It plans to purchase an eighth by 2026 and raise its air crew to have as many as 85 pilots (it currently has 70 crew members.)
While the switchover to IAG is being complete, the airline will continue to operate under Iberia ownership and run the existing routes between Spain and the United States as usual.
“The client should not notice anything,” Jiménez Hoyos said further. “The AOC gives us operational autonomy and business development, but the proposal to the clientele will remain absolutely the same.”
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