Lille, the new French base of Volotea

Volotea is strengthening its presence at Lille airport, which from next April will become a new operational base for its network, where it plans to create 30 direct jobs. In total, Volotea will serve 15 destinations from Lille this year, providing increased accessibility to the Hauts de France region.

This Monday, February 14, 2022, Volotea announces the establishment of its seventh French base at Lille airport. This strategic decision is a delight for all players on the platform and is part of a fruitful partnership between the Spanish airline and Lille airport.

Established in Lille since its creation in 2012, Volotea has for 10 years trusted Lille and its euro-regional area to build a constant, reasoned development, and to retain a large clientele.

Its clear strategy as an airline connecting the regional capitals, where the big companies are not very present, has enabled it to build in a decade a coherent network, complementary to existing offers and to other modes of transport, with, in particular, connections to Corsica and the metropolises of the South of France with little or no service (Montpellier, Perpignan).

Since 2020, Volotea has shown remarkable responsiveness in Lille: dynamic at the height of the Covid crisis with the development of national lines, in 2021 it transported nearly one in five passengers to Lille airport.

In this year of recovery, it is already asserting itself to be very proactive. By strengthening its program of regional services, it supports Lille airport in maintaining a structured network to major French cities.

And the arrival of the first Volotea-based aircraft in Lille will allow the launch of new international destinations in great demand by our customers and passengers, while at the same time constituting a new, major step in a partnership in which dialogue and the will to build together a sustainable and qualitative offer are essential.

The programme in detail

Volotea will serve 15 destinations from spring 2022 from Lille.

10 destinations are already open for booking: Ajaccio, Bastia, Figari, Perpignan, Montpellier, Bordeaux, Nantes, Nice, Toulouse, and the new Cagliari.

Ajaccio: resumption from April 2, with up to 6 flights per week
Bastia: resumption from April 3, with up to 5 flights per week
Bordeaux: resumption from April 1, with 6 flights per week
Figari: resumption from April 2, with up to 6 flights per week
Montpellier: all year round, with up to 4 flights per week
Nantes: resumption from April 1, with up to 4 flights per week
Nice: all year round, with up to 4 flights per week
Perpignan: recovery from April 2, 2 to 3 per week
Toulouse: all year round, with up to 6 flights per week
Cagliari: new destination from June 2 – exclusively in Lille – with 1 flight per week

Five other new destinations will be announced very soon by the company.

A marked improvement in average payload

On the national network, Volotea is positioned in particular on the routes previously served by Air France regional subsidiary Hop! (Nantes, Bordeaux, Toulouse).

With a lower number of frequencies, and using Airbus A319/A320 type aircraft whose average capacity is 56 to 80% higher than those of Hop!, Volotea’s programme will significantly increase the average passenger load on each movement.

Local jobs available

From April 2022, Lille will be the company’s 7th operational base in France, connecting the capital of Flanders to its network of 16 other bases and more than 100 destinations across 15 countries in Europe.

Its crews and mechanics will be assigned to Lille. Volotea will create 30 local jobs, staff recruited primarily in our territory; the company will soon begin its regional recruitment phase.

Increased attractiveness for Lille and its region

With its network of 15 destinations and nearly 491,000 seats available in 2022, Volotea provides an additional offer for travellers and contributes to improving accessibility to the metropolitan area of ??Lille and its region.

By connecting the major regions together, Volotea facilitates the travel and arrival on our territory of travellers with varied motivations: business meetings, congresses and seminars, school and cultural exchanges, tourism in our cities, our museums, our major events…

With the establishment of its new base, the connection to Volotea’s global network will offer Lille and its region international visibility and increased accessibility, wherever Volotea is present.

Marc-André Gennart, Managing Director of Aéroport de Lille SAS, says:

“Since my arrival at the head of Lille airport in January 2020, I have been able to participate in a constructive and professional dialogue with Carlos Munoz, CEO of Volotea, and his collaborators. I would like to thank them warmly for their trust, which is reflected in this new important step in the creation of a base.

All the teams at Lille Airport and its partners welcome this news with great enthusiasm; we will do everything we can to guarantee Volotea the performance of its operations in Lille, and to provide our joint passengers with the best possible travel experience.

I am delighted that this collective work allows us to support the sustainable establishment of Volotea in our territory today. A base is synonymous with new destinations and travel opportunities, but it is also, let’s not forget, the creation of immediate local jobs”.