Can you tell us a little about the new Volotea base in Marseille?
Pierfrancesco Carino - We are setting up a new base at Marseillethe fifth in the French market after Nantes, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Strasbourg. Two aircraft will be based there, and we will be offering 18 routes, including eight new destinations. Above all, eleven of the 18 flights offered will be without competition. This is a the Volotea model: finding opportunities without competition.
France is clearly crucial to your development. Could you set up in Paris?
P. C. - France is Volotea's biggest market, ahead of Italy and Spain. But an arrival in Paris would not be in line with our strategy of connecting medium-sized townsOur strategy is evolving in that we have added major cities such as Vienna, Munich and Madrid. Our strategy is evolving to the extent that we have added major cities such as Vienna, Munich and Madrid, but which are still connected to smaller destinations.
How would you sum up the past few months, and what are your objectives for this year?
P. C. - We recently celebrated 14 million passenger milestone passengers in five years. With two million passengers, the summer figures are 40% up on last year. Over the year, we hope to reach 4.5 million passengers.
How can this growth be explained?
P. C. - Our progress is linked to the addition of forty new lines. For next summer, we will be opening no less than 57 new routeswith a capacity increase of 25% for a total capacity of 7 million seats.
What does business travel represent for Volotea?
P. C. - Business traffic is growing all the faster because we now have a presence on all the business networks thanks to our partnerships with business travel agencies. This is an important segment because it allows us to offer a more regular service throughout the year. Our model was initially based on seasonal flights, but we have gradually extended the seasons with these business flights, mainly on the home network like the Toulouse-Nantes flight. We are committed to destinations with good business potential.
Despite everything, Volotea remains a low-cost airline...
P. C. - We do indeed guarantee low prices, with quality service. In fact, the seats on our Airbus A319s offer 5% more pitch than those of other airlines. In the GDS, we offer an all-inclusive product for business travellers in order to better target this clientele.
Could you follow the example of easyJet, which has made great strides in business travel by increasing the number of dedicated services?
P. C. - We are Volotea, and we remain different because we seek out unique destinations. That's our DNA. Our strategy is also to extend our seasonality, and guarantee a year-round offer to business travellers.
Isn't it difficult to stand alone in the face of the alliances and new partnerships that are developing, such as Worldwide by easyJet recently?
P. C. - Our strategy is to offer a simple, point-to-point service. We are not alone, because our customers are there. So we're not thinking about alliances at the moment, especially as we're a very young company.
