Vueling doubles its offer to Florence. The Spanish low-cost air company with a hub in Barcellona, and which belongs to the International Airlines Group, noticeably increase its wager on the Amerigo Vespucci airport as an important base for the Italian market – all in the context of strong repositioning in our country. If on the one hand the Spanish courier announced 24 new routes, 7 domestic and 17 international, on the Roma Fiumicino terminal that is destined to become the company’s second hub with 33 destinations; on the other it increased its commitment to the Tuscan airport, from which it transported nearly 400,000 passengers last year.
To the six pre-existing international routes – Barcelona, Copenhagen, London, Madrid, Paris and Berlin – to which one must add the internal connection to Catania, they will add direct connections to Bari, Palermo, Ibiza, Mikonos, Santorini and Cagliari, which will be available beginning in summer 2014. The offer will be comprised of more than 600,000 seats available during next summer’s season, double the Vueling packet from Florence during the 2013 summer, and it will also be services by a second Airbus craft stationed at the Vespucci airport. Vueling’s goal is to be the primary courier for the Florentine airport, and it chose Florence as one of the hinges for its new Italian wager: “ The Florence airport covers a strategic role in Vueling’s development plans in Italy and Europe – declared Alex Cruz, the company’s President – we are proud to eb able to provide the first direct domestic connections from the Florence airport, as well as a wide array of European destinations.” The low cost courier has been operating in Italy since 2004, when it launched its connections between Barcelona and Milan and Rome, and the Milan-Valencia, to then progressively increase its exposure on the Italian market, until it had a presence in 14 Italian cities in summer 2013, working out of two operational bases: Rome’s Fiumicino and Firenze’s Perentoal.
Vueling’s strengthening comes at a time when the Florentine airport is in great health: from the perspective of passengers transported, 2013 has been a record year. Based on the latest data provided by the AdF, the management company, in the first ten months of the year there have been nearly 1.7 million passengers, representing a 7% increase from the same period in 2012. Specifically, beginning with the summer months, the airport registered a growth that has constantly been 10% higher than the previous year. The statistic is even more meaningful when compared to the weak data from the national airport system, for which 2013 has been, until now, a year in deficit in terms of passengers.