Vueling expands UK operations with three new routes.

Monday 25th June 2012

First Southampton to Barcelona flight joins new Cardiff to Alicante and Palma de Mallorca routes.

Vueling, Spain's low fare airline, this weekend flew the first flights of its latest additions to its UK network, and reintroduced its popular Edinburgh to Barcelona schedule.

Vueling's first flight into Southampton from Barcelona touched down on Saturday with its inaugural service landing on time at 16:45. The regular, scheduled flights will operate between Southampton Airport and Barcelona El Prat Airport, three times weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Fares on the Southampton-Barcelona route will start from approximately £32 (39.99€).

The first flight from Barcelona El Prat airport was greeted at Southampton under the arch of a traditional water cannon salute, courtesy of the fire-fighting team at Southampton. A celebratory cake was also enjoyed by the Captain and crew of the flight prior to the aircraft's departure back to Barcelona carrying an excited group of passengers heading for the Spanish sun.

• New Routes from Cardiff

Vueling already operates three times weekly Cardiff to Barcelona flights and this weekend added a further two routes to its schedule from the Welsh capital. Direct flights to the historic, Spanish town of Alicante and the holiday destination of Palma de Mallorca, began flying on Friday 22 June.

Both routes will offer direct flights three times a week on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday* on Vueling's Airbus aircraft for the summer season. Vueling is also offering passengers flying to Mallorca the opportunity to maximise its Barcelona Hub connections programme to return to Cardiff via Barcelona on a Friday so making short breaks to the popular Mediterranean island, with its endless sunshine, an easy and convenient option. Fares from Cardiff to Alicante start from approximately £58 (69.99€) and to Palma de Mallorca from £32 (39.99€)

For passengers flying into Barcelona Vueling offers a wealth of alternative onward connections via its successful Barcelona Hub operations. Currently more than 40 destinations are available throughout Europe and North-Africa, including the Greek Islands of Santorini and Crete, as well as Gran Canaria, Malta, Malaga, San Sebastian, Rome and Venice, with full through baggage check-in from Southampton and Cardiff to final destination.

• Reintroduction of Edinburgh Route

Vueling also began the reintroduced and popular Edinburgh to Barcelona route this weekend when the first flight left on Saturday 23 June. The three times weekly flights, which will operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays will complement Vueling's 2012 summer schedule that features existing flights from London Heathrow to Bilbao, Galicia, La Coruna and Vigo and it's new routes from Cardiff to Barcelona, Mallorca and Alicante and from Southampton to Barcelona. Lead in fares from Edinburgh start from just £75 (89.99€) one way, taxes included.

"We are delighted to introduce these new routes to our expanding UK network," said Vueling CEO Alex Cruz. "Southampton has a strong catchment area and complementary ties to the cruise industry and is an obvious choice for Vueling. The addition of new summer routes from Cardiff to Alicante and Palma, and the reintroduction of the Edinburgh to Barcelona route for this summer further demonstrates our commitment to providing more regional flights to Spain for the UK market."

Tickets for all the routes can be purchased through Vueling's sales channels: www.vueling.com, tour operators and travel agencies; iPhone and Android apps, the airline's mobile portal m.vueling.com and via Vueling's UK call centre on 0906 754 7541. All services offer passengers' allocated seating and a range of benefits for business travellers.

• From September 16th the Cardiff-Alicante route will be available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

About Vueling - Vueling was founded in 2004 with two Airbus A320s serving four routes with the aim of providing excellent customer service at a competitive price. Eight years later, Vueling operates a fleet of 59 Airbus (57 A320 and two A319) at 74 airports throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, offering more than 14 million seats during the summer season 2012.

Today, business travellers represent 40% of Vueling's passengers for whom Vueling offers a range of Premium services. Vueling tickets can be purchased through the traditional online channels; travel agencies or through all mobile platforms (smart phones and tablets). Vueling is strongly committed to innovation and new technologies. Sales through the mobile channel, integrating the mobile portal m.vueling.com and applications for iPhone and Android, released recently, have quadrupled revenue for ticket sales since its launch in 2008.

Vueling in the UK - Vueling's first flights into London arrived in 2009. For summer 2012, with an expanded UK route network, Vueling will operate nine routes from four airports: London Heathrow to Bilbao, Galicia, La Coruna and Vigo; Cardiff to Barcelona, Palma and Alicante and from Southampton and Edinburgh to Barcelona.

www.vueling.com