Vueling wants to take a giant leap forward with a €5 billion investment to reach 60 million passengers

BarcelonaVueling has become the leading airline at Barcelona's expanding airport, and it aims to be even more so. The company has set a goal of transporting 60 million passengers by 2035. To achieve this, it plans to invest €5 billion, half of which will remain at El Prat Airport, where its main base is located. The budget will be primarily used to upgrade its fleet, switching to aircraft from the American manufacturer Boeing. "It's an ambitious and achievable project," stated Vueling's president and CEO, Carolina Martinoli. The airline, founded in Barcelona in 2004, wants to reach this goal without shifting its focus, which remains primarily on the Catalan capital. However, it is also working to strengthen domestic flights within Spain, where it has 11 bases, and its connectivity with Europe. Currently, it carries approximately 40 million passengers and employs 5,000 people. At El Prat Airport, Vueling is the airline with the largest market share, at 40%, followed at a considerable distance by Ryanair and, even further behind, by EasyJet and Wizz Air, all low-cost carriers. Of the more than 57 million passengers the airport recorded in 2025, 23 million chose Vueling. The company, part of the IAG group since 2013, has 60 aircraft based in the Catalan capital that fly to more than 100 destinations in 30 countries, the vast majority of them international.

This is a far cry from its founding figures: it had two planes flying to five destinations from a Barcelona airport that handled only 24 million passengers. "We have made a significant contribution to the development of El Prat," Martinoli asserted before an audience that included the director of Barcelona Airport, Eva Valenzuela, as well as the Minister of Business and Labor, Miquel Sàmper, and the Secretary of Mobility for the Department of Territory, Manel Nadal. With its infrastructure operating above its maximum theoretical capacity for the past two years, Vueling feels comfortable and will continue to grow during off-peak hours, which have historically been the least popular. "We like to offer frequent flights," the executive noted, emphasizing the need to consider all their passengers, divided between 20% who fly for business and 80% who travel for leisure. This is a temporary situation, pending an expansion that will also benefit them. "Barcelona is one of our reasons for existing. We are absolutely confident that the airport will be developed and the city will have the airport it needs," he emphasized.

New fleet with Boeing

Vueling's main growth driver in the coming years will be the complete overhaul of its fleet, currently comprised of 130 aircraft. The airline will cease operating aircraft from the European manufacturer Airbus, replacing them with those from the American manufacturer Boeing. This decision was announced just days after thetariff agreement between the United States and the European Union, criticized by some countries for the dominant position achieved by Donald Trump.

In the first phase, the airline will receive 50 aircraft. The first three will arrive starting in October, and the transition of the entire fleet will take six years. They will be MAX8 and MAX10 models, with 197 and 224 seats, respectively, an increase compared to the Airbus models it currently operates, which have between 180 and 186 seats. Despite the controversies surrounding Boeing lately, after suffering several accidents, Vueling emphasizes the reduction in emissions that the new models will bring.

With all this, the airline expects to contribute €10.5 billion to Catalonia's GDP within ten years, a figure that will grow by 57% compared to the current contribution. For Spain as a whole, it will be €17.5 billion.