Volotea (V7, Barcelona El Prat) is planning to proceed with its fleet replacement strategy and aims to retire all B717-200s by 2022, chief sales officer Pierfrancesco Carino said at a conference in Lyon.
As reported by Air Transport World, the LCC plans to add at least three A319-100s in 2019 to boost this sub-fleet to at least sixteen units. A further one Airbus narrowbody is currently under negotiation.
Volotea will also retain all seventeen B717-200s for 2019, although eventually, it plans to transition away from the Boeing twinjets. According to the ch-aviation fleets module, the Spanish LCC is already the sole operator of the type in Europe and one of only four commercial users worldwide.
Volotea's B717s are on average 15.7 years old. The carrier owns three units of the type and leases the remaining fourteen from Boeing Capital (thirteen) and Falko Regional Aircraft (one). The carrier's B717s seat up to 125 passengers, while the A319s are configured for 144-156 passengers.
