Volotea, ITA continue to contest Sardinian PSO

US's GLOBALX eyes ex-Volotea B717s

GLOBALX (G6, Miami Int'l) has posted a job ad for B717-200 pilots and is looking to add ten ex-Volotea (V7, Asturias) aircraft of the type, Dutch aviation news site Scramble has reported.

The charter specialist is seeking pilots type rated on either the B717 or MD80 Family aircraft for "the initial cadre for the B717" fleet. It did not provide any further details regarding service entry dates for the type, its fleet size, or prospective bases.

Sources indicated that the airline is likely to lease ten ex-Volotea B717s from BCC Equipment Leasing. The Spanish carrier retired all aircraft of the type in 2021 to focus on its A320 Family fleet going forward. The ch-aviation fleets ownership module shows Boeing's in-house lessor owns thirteen ex-Volotea B717s, currently in storage at Victorville. Volotea continues to own four more stored at each of Ciudad Real (three) and Verona (one).

The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that the B717s remain in operation with just three airlines:...

Madrid approves €200mn rescue loan to Spain's Volotea

Spain's government said it had approved a EUR200 million euro (USD214 million) loan to Volotea (V7, Asturias) as part of a series of bailouts to "strategic companies" to assist their recovery from the pandemic.

The aid will be channelled entirely through a participatory loan. As part of the deal, the shareholders of the privately-owned low-cost carrier must add a further EUR10 million (USD10.7 million) in cash to help steady the airline.

Volotea originally lodged its request for state funding in early December 2021, asking for up to EUR185 million (USD198 million). It said at the time that this could be a participatory loan provided via multiple lenders and stressed that "it does not plan to exhaust" the sum.

The bailout will arrive via Spain's sovereign wealth fund (Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales - SEPI), which said in a statement on June 7 that the "new temporary public support operation" was approved "after an exhaustive and rigorous process of analysis of the economic and legal situation" of Volotea.

On learning that the loan had...

Spain's Volotea opens Lourdes, France base

Volotea (V7, Asturias) continues to widen its footprint in France with the opening of a base at Lourdes/Tarbes on July 1, 2022, making it its eighth base in that country after Nantes, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Toulouse Blagnac, Marseilles, Lyon St. Exupéry, and Lille.

The airline will base one A319-100 at the airport and operate flights to five destinations, including a public service route to Paris Orly, as well as to Strasbourg in France and Naples Capodichino, Palermo, and Venice Marco Polo in Italy, the company said in a statement.

"With this public service delegation project between Lourdes-Tarbes and Paris-Orly, Volotea is making a major contribution to the development of the region by directly creating 30 jobs for flight crews, and also creating indirect jobs, particularly through the delegation of ground handling and catering services at Tarbes-Lourdes airport," commented founder and Chief Executive Officer Carlos Munoz. He said the carrier was seeing strong return of travel and great opportunities for growth in the...

SEPI fund approves €111mn rescue of Spain’s Air Nostrum