Lanzarote Airport

Vueling grows its low cost Barcelona hub role as Iberia Express focusses on Madrid premium traffic

Vueling's growth this year, the largest since its merger with rival Clickair in 2009, underscores the airline's role as a cost-effective hub carrier with connecting flights at Barcelona's El Prat Airport, a status Iberia concluded it could not achieve in Barcelona, largely pulling out of the market in favour of specially-formed LCC Clickair. After the Clickair-Vueling merger, Iberia retained part ownership (46%, now controlled by Iberia parent International Consolidated Airline Group) while the merged carrier continued its focus on Barcelona. The partnership appears to be working well for both Iberia and Vueling.

That focus has been re-affirmed by the airline's intention to grow summer destinations served from El Prat by a further 10, bringing the total to 70, 23 more than served last year, and representing a 17% seat increase at El Prat. The growth is supported by the addition of four A320s and a single A319.

Norwegian's route expansion pays off with big traffic increase in May

The LCC Norwegian, now the fourth largest budget carrier in Europe and about half the size of SAS, is widely regarded as one of the success stories of Scandinavian aviation. The Oslo-based airline reported passenger numbers rose by 25% in May-2010 as a direct correlation with the introduction of new routes during the period Jun-2009 to May-2010. But there is still some concern about its yields.

World’s largest airport operator reports 12% passenger traffic and 21% cargo reduction in May-2009

Spain’s national airport authority, Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea (AENA), the world’s largest airport operator, reported an 11.9% year-on-year reduction in passenger traffic (to 16.3 million passengers) in May-2009, with a steeper 20.5% reduction in cargo volumes. Aircraft movements were down 8.2% to 196,750.