To what extent is this first business class a revolution for Vueling, a change in its philosophy?
Alex Cruz - The new Vueling was born when we merged with Clickair in 2009. At that time, we made a crucial decision: to continue to develop our product and service, particularly for premium customers. We also wanted to be flexible about how we developed it, and we had to do it without spending too much money. It seemed like an impossible project. I remember talking to investors at the time, and they'd look at me and say: "That guy from Bilbao is totally crazy, he doesn't know what he's talking about! But today, thanks to this partnership with Pepsi, you can see another example of how Vueling manages to offer a better product, a better service, without increasing its costs. This is crucial in today's market. Our fares are among the three lowest in Europe, and yet when you board, you don't feel you're travelling with a low-cost airline. It's a slow process, it takes time, but in the end it reflects the Vueling culture. We want to prove to the world, to our shareholders, and to ourselves that we can offer a very high quality product. And that's the direction we're moving in. So this is another step, but there are many more to come.
Which ones?
Alex Cruz - We're used to 'firsts': Barcelona is already the leading airport in terms of short-haul destinations, thanks to Vueling. We need to continue our work at Paris-Orly on slots. You can count on us for the statistics in terms of destinations and volumes for a few more years. But that's not enough: we believe we can also breaking product and service records. I'll say it again: it takes time, but our teams have the mental strength to pull it off.
What proportion of your customers are business travellers, and what growth do you expect from this new business product?
Alex Cruz - We are counting on between 38 and 40% of passengers claiming to be travelling on business. This is to be expected, given the routes and above all the frequencies we offer. So we're simply seeking to reaffirm our commitment to this business travel community. We don't just want to offer a service as good as this or that airline: we want to do much better, especially as 'traditional' carriers tend to cut back on service to save money. It's our commitment to offer a premium product while remaining flexible.
Do you think the other low-cost airlines will follow suit, by developing business classes?
Alex Cruz - Obviously, they're going to imitate us. Over the last five years, all the major low-cost airlines have based their approach on a Vueling idea. "How can Vueling do this, or that, and still offer more attractive fares than us?" is the "simple" question asked by these airlines.
What next? Long-haul flights?
Alex Cruz - No, I don't think long-haul flights are part of our plan... We still have a lot of things to do on our network. We will continue to improve the passenger experience, both on the ground and in the air. We have a lot of ideas in this area, and we'll be working with other partners, as we did this time with Pepsi. We could have installed these electrical outlets on board our aircraft years ago, 'simply' by paying for them. But we preferred to find an agreement with a partner who could enhance the image of its brand through our appliances, while contributing to the development of a new service.
Wi-Fi could be the next step...
Alex Cruz - We are working on this. You'll soon have the chance to find out about it at a forthcoming event, in a few months' time, in 2015.
