The new connection, operational between July and September 2021, will have two weekly frequencies: Tuesdays and Fridays.
Volotea, the airline for small and medium-sized European cities, today announced the launch of a route connecting Gibraltar airport with Bilbao. This new connection will operate twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The connection between Gibraltar and Bilbao, operated by an Airbus A319, will start on 2 July offering around 8,200 seats between July and September. Volotea will be the only airline to connect Gibraltar with a Spanish city.
"True to our vocation, we want to continue to connect small and medium- sized cities with great flexibility and to do so with maximum safety. We are very happy to be able to announce the opening of this new route that seeks to satisfy a demand that was not being met," commented Carlos Muñoz, Founder and CEO of Volotea.
Minister for Business, Tourism, Transport and the Port of Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar the Hon Vijay Daryanani MP said “I welcome the announcement made today by Volotea on the start of flights from Bilbao, Spain to Gibraltar for the summer of 2021. I am delighted to see the addition of yet another carrier serving Gibraltar and a new route that opens up a completely new catchment area from another country. I am sure that this announcement will be welcomed by our tourism industry in Gibraltar and our business community, as this service creates further opportunities to attract visitors to Gibraltar. I am also sure that those living in Gibraltar and in the region will welcome the chance to visit Bilbao and its surrounding areas. This will assist in generating even more shared prosperity for this area.”
All Volotea routes are available on the website www.volotea.com and in travel agencies.
At the airport and on board its aircraft, Volotea guarantees a safe experience, with strict protocols and sanitary measures certified by Bureau Veritas.
Volotea offers a free deferral of tickets, up to 7 days before departure, for any departure up to 30 September 2021 and confirmed up to 30 April 2021.
Flight schedules are subject to health conditions and restrictions imposed by the authorities of European countries and may be subject to change.
Volotea was founded in 2011 by Carlos Muñoz and Lázaro Ros, previously founders of Vueling, and is one of the fastest-growing independent airlines in Europe, increasing year-on-year its fleet, routes served, and seats offered. Since its start, Volotea has carried more than 30 million passengers across Europe.
Volotea is based in 17 European mid-sized capitals: Asturias, Athens, Bilbao, Bordeaux, Cagliari, Genoa, Hamburg, Lyon (opening in 2021), Marseille, Nantes, Naples, Olbia, Palermo, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Venice and Verona. Volotea serves more than 100 cities across 16 countries including Algeria which will be launched in September from France.
In 2020, Volotea signed an agreement with Bureau Veritas, a world leader in testing, inspection and certification, in order to verify the successful implementation of health and hygiene measures. Volotea is the world’s first airline to have its preventive measures against Covid-19 audited by Bureau Veritas.
Volotea is becoming a full Airbus carrier in 2021, by renewing part of its fleet with aircraft from the European manufacturer. The airline, which had planned to perform this fleet unification in 2023, has advanced its plans in order to improve its cost base over the next 2-3 years and increase its network offering, with aircraft that have a higher capacity and a longer flying range. The airline plans to operate a fleet of 35 to 39 aircraft in summer 2021 (versus 36 in Summer 2019).
