A lot has happened in the European airline landscape over the past few months. So much that it feels like this summer lasted a lot more than it did. Despite it not being as big as Lufthansa’s ITA takeover or SAS moving to SkyTeam, it is still very important and relevant news for many travellers. I’m alluding to Aegean investing in Volotea and taking a minority stake in the low-cost carrier. Here’s what will happen homing in on the airlines and changes for passengers.
How Much of Volotea is Aegean Acquiring and How?
Eventually, by Q2 of 2025, Aegean could hold a minority stake of Volotea accounting for 21% of the airline’s shares. However, Aegean won’t take over these shares overnight and it won’t be in a single operation.
The Greek carrier will initially invest 25 million Euros by participating in a capital increase along with the other shareholders. This first investment should take place soon. It isn’t stated in the airline’s press release, but I expect it to be over and done within the next couple of months.
Particularly considering that Aegean holds options to invest additional 25 million Euros in Q2 of 2025 to take over more of the low-cost carrier. Even this second investment will take place by means of a capital increase if the Greek carrier triggers the option.
The first investment tranche will translate into a 13% stake of Volotea going under Aegean’s control, while the second tranche would bring the stake up to 21%.
The Airlines Also Signed a Strategic MoU
An appendix to the investment is the strategic MoU the carriers signed. Aegean and Volotea agreed to strengthen commercial ties. The two airlines will sell each other’s flight tickets on their websites and sales channels. This seems to be the first step towards a much wider agreement which might in the future, my personal take, include some sort of codeshare.
Additionally, Volotea will be leaning on Aegean’s infrastructures for some of its MRO needs and training simulator facilities. This is possibile as the two airlines both operate and all Airbus A320 family fleet.
Why The Aegean-Volotea Agreement Makes Heaps of Sense
Aegean investing in Volotea just makes a lot of sense for several reasons. The two airlines have networks which are perfectly complementary. Volotea, as a Spanish based airline, focuses on southwest Europe, while Aegean focuses strongly on the Greek isles and the southeast Mediterranean along with incoming leisure traffic from Europe.
Therefore, it makes a lot of sense for the airlines to strengthen ties to become more prominent in the European aviation market, despite them having slightly different business models. It would make even more sense if in the coming months they announce a real codeshare.
Also, the airlines are highly compatible in terms of fleet. They both operate all A320 family fleets. Therefore, if they ever decided to merge their fleets would already be well aligned. But that is just my very own supposition.
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