What happened
Volotea has three to six months to rework roughly 356 million euros of debt after asking a Barcelona court for pre-insolvency protection. Flights are still operating as scheduled. The carrier's equity is nearly 80 million euros in the red. An extra 150 million euros in fuel costs prompted an illegal attempt to add fuel surcharges to tickets already sold.
Volotea operates 44 to 45 Airbus planes and plans to downsize to 30 to 35 aircraft. Route cancellations and fewer frequencies are expected. If the process fails, liquidation could follow. Aegean, which owns more than 20%, says it has no plan to buy the remainder.
EU 261 would require Volotea to rebook cancelled passengers on other airlines such as Air France or ITA at its own cost while it operates. Travellers on niche point-to-point routes still face cancellation and liquidation risk.
If you book Volotea, pay with a credit card that would cover the fare if the airline folds, and watch for route and frequency cuts.
- Numbers
- 20%: Aegean ownership stake
- 356M euros: debt obligations
- 80M euros: negative equity
- 150M euros: extra fuel costs
- 44 to 45 aircraft: current Airbus fleet
- 30 to 35 aircraft: planned fleet after downsizing
- Where
- Barcelona
- Takeaway
- If you book Volotea, pay with a credit card that would cover the fare if the airline folds, and watch for route and frequency cuts.