Vueling, Norwegian and easyJet: Filling the gap after Spanair

March 6, 2012 flight2000it

Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling is preparing to land at Copenhagen, with 11 weekly flights between Copenhagen and Barcelona. Norwegian is adding flights to this Catalan city as well, closing the gap left by the bankruptcy of former airline Spanair.

The gap left by Spanair’s bankruptcy two weeks ago has already more or less been closed.

A rapidly growing Spanish low-cost carrier called Vueling, which operated its very first flight to Copenhagen on 28 January, has decided to give extra priority to its Barcelona-Copenhagen route.

Just 18 hours after Spanair went bankrupt, Vueling was ready to launch four weekly frequencies to Barcelona. On 1 March, Vueling will increase this number to seven weekly flights, and then raise it again to 11 on 25 March.

Norwegian will also be increasing its flight frequency on this popular route, from seven to ten weekly flights. This more than closes the gap left by Spanair.

Good news for growth in Denmark
“This is excellent news – and not just for travellers and Copenhagen Airport. All flight routes generate growth and jobs, so it has been incredibly important for us to see replacements for the former Spanair routes,” said Carsten Nørland, Copenhagen Airports’ Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Partly owned by Iberia and British Airways, Vueling has grown rapidly in recent years and is now the fourth-largest low-cost carrier in Europe, so far with 43 aircraft serving 44 cities in 13 countries.

“What is new for Danish passengers is that Vueling now also offers connections from Barcelona on other airlines, for instance Iberia,” said Nørland.

Or, as Vueling CEO Alex Cruz said when the airline decided to increase service to Copenhagen, “Danish passengers can fly not just to Barcelona, but also to many other destinations offered at our hub at Barcelona’s El Prat airport.”

A total of 410,000 passengers travelled between Copenhagen and Barcelona in 2011.

easyJet snaps up Madrid
Spanair’s six weekly flights to Madrid are also being replaced – not by Vueling, but by easyJet, a carrier soon to offer five weekly flights between Copenhagen and the capital of Spain.

easyJet already operates between Copenhagen and London Gatwick, London Stansted, Manchester, Berlin, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, Geneva, Milan Malpensa and Lisbon – and , starting in May, also to Madrid.

Source: Copenhagen Airports