Low-cost carrier LEVEL opens new base at Amsterdam

Low-cost airline LEVEL, part of the International Airlines Group (IAG), will start offering flights from Amsterdam Airport from 6 April with three Airbus A320/A321 aircraft based at Schiphol.

LEVEL will start flights to Rome (in competition with Alitalia, easyJet, KLM) and Vienna (in competition with Austrian Airlines, easyJet, KLM) on 6 April 2019. The next day it will start flying to London Luton in direct competition with easyJet and indirectly against British Airways, Flybe and KLM.

Fuerteventura (in competition with Corendon, easyJet, Transavia and TUI Fly Netherlands) and Lisbon (in competition with easyJet, KLM, TAP Air Portugal, Transavia) will be added in mid-June, Barcelona (vs KLM, Transavia) and Milan-Malpensa (vs easyJet, KLM, Alitalia) in mid-August.

LEVEL was originally created as a long-haul budget airline, flying e.g. from Barcelona and Paris-Orly to the U.S. and South America. However, LEVEL is now also expanding into short- and medium-haul. From its first hub in Vienna, for example, it is now flying to 16 destinations with 4 Airbus A321 aircraft acquired from Air Berlin. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has been chosen as the second hub.

Because of the slots constraints at Schiphol, LEVEL is taking over slots from Vueling, which is also part of IAG. Nevertheless, it seems strange that the IAG Group feels necessary to have two low-cost carriers flying in the same area. In fact, LEVEL is also taking over 7 routes operated by Vueling from Amsterdam.

LEVEL currently has 9 aircraft: 5 long-haul Airbus A330-200s and 4 medium-haul Airbus A321s. It will thus take over 3 more A320s from Vueling and has ordered two additional A330-200s.