Vueling route map: Jun-2012- Source: Vueling

Budget airline Vueling has confirmed significant expansion plans for its Barcelona base this summer, a little over two months before new Spanish airline Iberia Express is set to begin operations.

Vueling, Europe's fourth-largest low-cost carrier, will offer a total of 70 destinations to and from Barcelona's El Prat International this summer, a significant boost of more than 23 from last year, it said last week.

New destinations to and from Barcelona will include Lanzarote (Spain), San Sebastian (Spain), Almeria (Spain), Lourdes (France), Malmö (Sweden), Nuremberg (Germany), Edinburgh and Southampton (UK), Stavanger (Norway) and Split (Croatia).

There will also be a further 21 new routes from other Vueling destinations, the airline has said, with growth in Palma, Majorca, Bilbao and Alicante in Spain, Paris Orly in France, and Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia.

With Vueling expecting to double the number of passengers it carried through Barcelona in 2011 (one million), aviation analysts have noted that low-cost flights in Spain are set for an interesting year.

Iberia Express, a new budget airline from flag-carrier Iberia, is set to begin operations in April, focusing its efforts on the Spanish capital Madrid in a bid to take on low-cost giants Ryanair and Easyjet. The airline will begin services using four aircrafts and unlike Vueling and other rivals is expected to offer two classes of service.

Published 26.01.2012