Spanish LCC Volotea to step up fleet rollover plans

Volotea plans to increase the pace of its re-fleeting plans, which include switching from Boeing 717s to Airbus A319s in 2017, as it moves toward an all-European fleet over the next few years. The airline, which specialises in linking secondary and tertiary European cities, said it had taken 4 A319s on strength this year, but anticipated acquiring a further 6 in 2017. By the end of next year, its fleet will consist of 18 717s and 10 A319s. The carrier has grown rapidly in its first 6 years of existence, having carried 2.5m passengers in 2015; it expects to carry 3.3m to 3.5m passengers this year. That figure is expected to jump again in 2017 to the 4.3m to 4.5m mark. It also anticipates growing its route network substantially, adding more than 40 new sectors next year. This will give it a route map of around 240 sectors. <br/>