The airline Volotea plans to put tickets on sale tomorrow for the new routes that will connect the Region of Murcia with Madrid and Barcelona starting on December 1 and 3, respectively, with two weekly frequencies on Mondays and Fridays, according to its founder and CEO, the Murcian businessman Carlos Muñoz Beraza, told LA VERDAD. There will be an average price of 50 euros per ticket, which will be lower depending on the promotional campaigns. Volotea will launch 20,000 places in the first season.
Volotea won the course launched by the regional government to promote the Region as a tourist destination and generate demand that facilitates the opening of new routes, as published by this Newsroom. It will be done through a contract of one and a half years and a cost of 2.4 million euros. Carlos Muñoz points out that this is a very important project for his company, since this route from the Region will be the first that Volotea operates domestically with Madrid. He also underlines that they plan to market both lines with a permanent and long-term vocation, with the aim of opening more weekly frequencies.
Days and hours
Flights with Madrid will begin on December 1 on Tuesdays and Fridays temporarily, since from January 9 they will be on Mondays and Fridays. They will last approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes. The schedules will be the following, from January 9:
Monday: departure from Madrid at 9:50 am and arrival in the Region at 11 am. Departure from the Region at 11:40 a.m. and arrival in Madrid at 12:55 p.m.
Friday: Departure from Madrid at 3:45 p.m. and departure from the Region at 5:50 p.m.
The route with Barcelona will begin on December 3. Until January 9, it will fly on Wednesdays and Sundays, and after that date it will be on Mondays and Fridays. The hours will be the following:
Monday: Departure from Barcelona at 8:45 am. Departure from Murcia at 10:40 a.m.
Friday: Departure from Barcelona at 4:00 p.m. Departure from Murcia at 5:55 p.m.
«Launching the Madrid and Barcelona routes from the airport in the Region of Murcia puts us on another level; It is a very important change for us”, declares Carlos Muñoz, who recalls that they had been studying these destinations for some time. «Our intention is that it be for the long term, and not only the time that the contract establishes. We trust that there will be a good development of these routes because our intention is to increase the frequencies. The first thing is that these first two go well, to introduce a third », he explains.
Competition with the AVE
The Murcian businessman believes that both destinations can work well and hopes that they will be “successful.” Regarding the services provided by the AVE between Murcia and Madrid, Carlos Muñoz points out that “there are users for the train, and users for the plane. Let’s see how they coexist.” In his opinion, there is no “exact science” when comparing both modes of transport in terms of trade and demand, and he recalls that the market tends to tend more towards rail when travel times are less than two and a half hours. , even less. A circumstance that is not met now with the services provided by Renfe between Murcia and Madrid. And less if the demand of Cartagena and other areas of the coast and the Guadalentín Valley are taken into account.
Another advantage of connecting with the Madrid and Barcelona airport hubs is the possibility of connecting with other intercontinental and transoceanic flights.
Carlos Muñoz hopes to put a third weekly frequency with Madrid and Barcelona if demand grows
As for prices, the average can be around 50 euros each way, although it will depend a lot on promotional offers and travel dates, which can make the ticket considerably cheaper. Volotea will put 20,000 seats up for sale with Madrid and Barcelona in the first season.
“We want to strengthen the regional airport”
“Having this new airport in the Region of Murcia, we are going to do our bit to maximize it,” says Carlos Muñoz. Volotea is the second airline that offers the most seats, after Ryanair. It began operating in Corvera in 2019 with 10,000 seats, and this year it will increase the offer to 45,000, three and a half times more than at the beginning. This summer it will operate the routes with Oviedo, Santander and Menorca.
Carlos Muñoz highlights the growth that Volotea is experiencing, which has just signed a strategic agreement with Eurowings (a Lufthansa subsidiary) for the joint sale of 150 routes. This year it will offer 12 million seats, compared to 8 million before Covid, with a growth of more than 50%.
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