Volotea, the airline connecting mid-sized European cities, will send its A320 aircraft to Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance for a comprehensive airframe service, mainly to be carried out during the winter seasons. This agreement, which will come into force in January 2023, fulfills a heavy maintenance activity solution with a time horizon of five and a half years.
Press release
Volotea awards Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance to maintain its A320 fleet until 2028
Barcelona, Paris, Amstelveen, July 11, 2022
This first agreement will be in force for more than 5 years from January 2023. The contract includes two full nose to tail maintenance lines for winter maintenance season. The visits will be performed by Aerotechnics Industries, a specialized joint venture operating within AFI KLM E&M's global MRO network.
AFI KLM E&M is selected to perform 120 C-Checks after a comprehensive bidding process that demonstrated the relevance and high quality of its airframe maintenance services. Depending on operational conditions, C-checks, typically performed every 2 years, consist of the inspection, overhaul, maintenance and replacement of aircraft parts, also include preventive maintenance.
A320 product experience and the strength of an extensive MRO network
A total of 120 visits are expected during the winter seasons of the coming years. The services will be carried out according to world-class standards in the hangars of Aerotechnics Industries (ATI). ATI capitalizes on the unique expertise accumulated by its parent companies over more than thirty years in the operation and maintenance of the A320 family.
“This long-term agreement provides us with first-class maintenance services for our A320 fleet. Working with a leading and reputable MRO like AFI KLM E&M will provide us with the highest level of inspection services. Furthermore, this agreement represents an essential quality guarantee for Volotea, an airline whose top priority is safety.”
Carlos Muñoz
Volotea founder and CEO
“We are very pleased to welcome Volotea among our customers and proud of the additional recognition this brings to the quality of our aircraft maintenance services. With the proximity and flexibility provided by our global MRO network, our dual Airline-MRO expertise and our in-depth A320 product experience, we will ensure that Volotea's fleet is maintained at the highest possible level of operational excellence.”
Anne Brachet
EVP Air France-KLM Engineering & Maintenance
About Volotea
Volotea was founded in 2011 by Carlos Munoz and Lázaro Ros, previously founders of Vueling, 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 40 million passengers across Europe. Volotea is currently based in 18 medium-sized European capitals: Asturias, Athens, Bilbao, Bordeaux, Cagliari, Hamburg, Lille (opening in April 2022), Lyon (opening in 2021), Lourdes (opening in July 2022), Marseille, Nantes, Naples, Olbia, Palermo, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Venice, and Verona. Volotea serves more than 100 cities in 16 countries, with novelties in 2022 such as Denmark, which will begin operating in May this year from Italy, and Algeria, which began last December with flights from France. The airline will operate a fleet of 41 aircraft in 2022, up from 36 in summer 2019. In terms of volume, Volotea will increase its seat capacity by nearly 40% compared to 2019, when the airline put 8 million tickets on sale, highlighting the strong latent demand in Europe's mid-sized city markets. Likewise, this year the airline plans to increase its workforce in all its markets. In June 2021, Volotea had more than 1,400 employees and by 2022 the company expects to have more than 1,600 employees in Europe. Volotea became 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. Since 2012, Volotea has carried out more than 50 sustainability actions, thanks to which it has reduced its carbon footprint per passenger and kilometer by more than 41%. In 2021, the airline began to voluntarily offset 5 percent of its total CO2 emissions until it reaches 25 percent offset of its carbon footprint in 2025. And this year, the company has introduced sustainable fuels in aircraft and collaborates with manufacturers and industry so that these fuels (now difficult to access) can be developed and become widespread as soon as possible. Volotea was elected "Europe's Leading Low-cost Airline" at the World Travel Awards 2021, the industry's most prestigious awards recognizing excellence in the transportation and tourism industry worldwide.
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