Vueling launches seven new routes from BRU

Vueling will have in Brussels a focus airport and will launch seven new routes for the next summer

Rome, Lisbon, Oporto, Venice, Santiago de Compostela, Ibiza and Palma de Mallorca are the new destinations for the summer season 2014

The airline will connect Brussels Airport with 11 direct destinations and will offer more than 698,040 seats, up 108% from the previous year

Vueling, the leading airline in Barcelona-El Prat, has presented its expansion plans for the upcoming summer season 2014 at a press conference in Brussels.  The airline will launch seven new direct routes to Rome-Fiumicino, Venice, Lisbon, Porto, Santiago de Compostela, Ibiza and Palma de Mallorca from April. To support this remarkable growth, Vueling considers Brussels airport a focus airport where a a night stop Airbus A-320 (180 seats) will be stationed as from May 1st.

The new flights and increased frequencies on routes that Vueling operates currently will mean a 108 per cent increase in the number of seats from Brussels next summer compared to this year. In total 698,040 seats will be available to 11 destinations during the whole year.

Vueling makes a step forward in its expansion strategy in Brussels, now also connecting Brussels Airport with destinations outside Spain. The company will launch two routes to Italy, to its capital, Rome, and Venice, one of the main tourist destinations in the country. The route to the main airport of Rome will begin on April 24. Rome becomes a daily direct destination throughout the year, with a total offering of 66,600 seats. Moreover, the connection to Venice will be served five times weekly, throughout the year as from May 1st, with a total of 57,600 seats.

The other news is the new links with Lisbon and Porto in Portugal. Both routes take off on the 1st of May, throughout the year. The route to Lisbon will be a daily operation and will offer 64,080 seats, while Porto is offered four times weekly, totaling 36,720 seats.

The three new routes to destinations in Spain, Santiago de Compostela (Galicia), Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza (Balearic Islands), are seasonal and operate between the months of May to September. These routes contribute to strengthen the number of routes between Brussels and Spain, extending the range of destinations to the northwest of the Peninsula for the first time and on the other hand the Balearic Islands have a high demand during the summer months for their attractive beaches.

The route to Santiago de Compostela (Galicia) will be served three times weekly as from May 3rd. The total seat offer on this route is of 27,360 seats.

The flights heading to the Balearic Islands will start on May 3rdas well. Ibiza will start with two flights a week, increasing to four in high season, offering a total of 24,840 seats. On the other hand, the route to Palma de Mallorca will start with two flights per week, increasing to three. 20,160 seats will be offered on that route.

On top of these new destinations from Brussels Airport, Vueling will increase its capacity at all the routes that were already directly served last year, including the route Barcelona up to four daily frequencies. So next summer Vueling connects Brussels with 11 direct destinations: Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante Malaga, Rome, Lisbon, Oporto, Venice, Santiago de Compostela, Ibiza and Palma de Mallorca.

The summer of 2014 will be the second consecutive summer with expansion at Brussels Airport. Last summer, the company increased the number of offered seats by 28% with the launch of two new direct routes. The flights to Alicante and Malaga, two major touristic and attractive destinations located on the Spanish Mediterranean coast proved highly popular.