Level begins a new phase as an independent airline with its sights set on boosting Barcelona

El Prat de LlobregatFrom now on, passengers traveling with Level will see that the locator on their tickets begins with LL, as will be the case on airport screens when checking their gate. The first flight of this new phase took off yesterday at 6:30 p.m. from El Prat Airport bound for New York, debuting the new locator LL2627. The calls made by the pilots upon entering US airspace also featured another change, with the name Dalí used as the airline's identifier.

These small details reflect all the work Level has been doing for some time to operate as an independent airline within the IAG group, which also includes Aer Lingus, Iberia, British Airways, and Vueling. Founded in 2017 as a commercial brand operated by Iberia, Level obtained its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) at the end of last year, a necessary step to begin operating independently. This also required other procedures such as updating traffic rights to fly to each country and contracts with suppliers. To cope with all of this, the long-haul airline has also had to expand its workforce, previously linked to Iberia. This year, Level has seen its number of employees skyrocket by 750%, reaching 600. The company, with ownership split between Iberia (51%) and IAG (49%), shares its headquarters with Vueling in Viladecans, in an office complex where it occupies one floor and is beginning to run out of space. Starting next year, the company will begin publishing its own financial results, which until now have not been broken down. No connection to the Prat airport expansion

Level aims to turn Barcelona into a hub long-haul hubs like Madrid, London, and Dublin for the IAG group. "It's one hub "within Europe, where there is a very important niche to exploit," says Level's CEO, Rafael Jiménez Hoyos, who dissociates this growth from the airport expansion project"Our intention is to continue growing, regardless of what happens at the airport," he emphasizes. One of the main criticisms of Aena's plans is the lack of a flagship airline capable of attracting many intercontinental flights to El Prat, something that doesn't seem to have a solution with Iberia. concentrated to boost Barajas and its smaller sister airline, Level, still far from its figures.

Since 2023, Level has been the leading long-haul airline, a position it maintains this year with 16% of the seats offered. This position is accompanied by growth in capacity since its inception: from 179,000 seats in 2017 to nearly one million in 2025. In this winter season alone, which runs from October to March, its capacity has grown by 50%.

This growth will also be influenced by the arrival of more aircraft. It currently operates with seven Airbus A330-200 aircraft – unaffected by the problems the manufacturer has experienced. in another model—, awaiting an eighth aircraft expected next year. It will be then that the opening of new routes to the Americas will be discussed. With a strong focus on the United States, a market that has cooled this summer, Level flies to New York, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Its network is completed with flights to Buenos Aires and Santiago, Chile. Level also hopes to secure a share of the 21 aircraft that IAG has ordered from Airbus, with deliveries expected around 2028. Here, Level will have to compete with Aer Lingus and Iberia. Meanwhile, it is redesigning its aircraft to make its finances more sustainable, almost doubling the number of premium seats at the expense of [other options]. economy.