Vueling

Vueling is a Spanish low-cost airline based in Viladecans, near Barcelona, and part of International Airlines Group (IAG), alongside British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus. The name joins the Spanish word “vuelo” (flight) with the English suffix "-ing". Barcelona–El Prat is its main base, with secondary bases including Paris Orly and Rome Fiumicino.

Within the low-cost segment, Vueling sits towards the hybrid end. Fares are sold in bundles, from a basic option that includes only an under-seat bag to higher tiers that add an overhead-locker bag, a checked bag and other services. Its loyalty programme, Vueling Club, earns and spends Avios, the currency shared across IAG airlines, and it has codeshare agreements with carriers including British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Qatar Airways and LATAM Brasil.

History

The airline was established on 10 February 2004 and flew its first service, Barcelona to Ibiza, on 1 July 2004, with two Airbus A320s. After a difficult 2007, which brought two profit warnings and changes on the board, it restructured and returned to profit in 2009. That year it completed a merger with Clickair, a rival Spanish low-cost carrier in which Iberia was the main shareholder; the combined airline kept the Vueling name, and competition regulators required it to release slots at Barcelona and other airports as a condition of approval.

Expansion outside Spain followed in the early 2010s, including bases at Amsterdam and Toulouse in 2011 and Rome in 2012; the Toulouse base has since closed, and Brussels, Catania and Palermo were shut in a 2016 restructuring. In April 2013 IAG took control, merging a newly bought stake with Iberia's existing holding to reach 90.51%. IAG said at the time that Vueling would remain a standalone company within the group rather than be merged into Iberia.

Fleet and the switch to Boeing

Vueling has flown only Airbus A320-family aircraft since it began. Wikipedia's fleet table, dated August 2025, lists 142 aircraft: A319s, A320s, A320neos, A321s and A321neos; press reports from January 2026 put the fleet at about 140 Airbus aircraft. That is now changing. Fifty Boeing 737 MAX aircraft ordered by IAG in 2022 have been allocated to Vueling, in the 737-8200 and 737-10 variants, and the airline has said it intends to move to an all-Boeing fleet. According to the German trade publication aeroTELEGRAPH, the first was due in October 2026, with three delivered by the end of 2026 and all 50 by 2029.

The aircraft change is part of a long-term plan presented in Barcelona in January 2026. Under chief executive Carolina Martinoli, Vueling set a target of 60 million passengers in 2035, around 20 million more than it currently carries. The plan focuses on Barcelona, Spanish domestic routes, the Balearic and Canary Islands, and links between Spain and the rest of Europe. Vueling bases about 60 aircraft at El Prat, has 11 bases in Spain, and serves close to 100 destinations.