IAG resumes the plans for Level that it paralyzed due to the pandemic and with which the Barcelona airport can be strengthened. The group has finally decided that the airline will become independent from Iberia, on which it is a brand, and will establish itself as its own company starting next year, when it is scheduled to obtain the Air Operator Certificate.
This will allow it to have its own structure, gaining autonomy and agility. This step will be accompanied by fleet growth and the strengthening of synergies with Vueling, the leading airline in El Prat that can supply passengers to Level’s long-haul flights. This move will consolidate it as the only airline dedicated to intercontinental flights based in Barcelona after the withdrawal of Norwegian. And it will also serve to increase the airport’s transoceanic travel offer, the segment that both governments and the business sector are trying to promote and that is at the origin of the debate on the expansion of the airport.
The holding company run by Luis Gallego – also owner of British Airways and Air Lingus – hopes to add one plane per year until 2026, to reach eight aircraft by then. Now Level has a fleet of five aircraft that connect Barcelona with New York, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles or San Francisco.
For the business world, IAG’s commitment will have a positive impact on Barcelona. “The fact that Level has started the procedures to obtain its Air Operator Certificate is very good news,” highlights Alícia Casart, director of infrastructure at the Chamber of Barcelona. In this way – he continues – it will join the other two airlines that already have offices and operations in El Prat – Vueling and Volotea –, which will generate “a reinforced fabric that has the potential to grow and offer more jobs.” .
The incorporation of new aircraft to its fleet by 2026 supports, according to the Chamber, the “strong” demand for Barcelona as an origin or destination for international connectivity, especially with America. Something that Foment del Treball agrees with. “Long haul has a growing demand at the airport and this commitment by IAG confirms it,” highlights Lluís Moreno, president of the commission on the expansion of the airport of the large company employers’ association.
Until October, more than 42 million passengers have passed through the airport, of which 30.6 million are international (also counting Europe).
Level once again takes center stage in the future of Barcelona, ??despite not having achieved the objectives with which it was born. The airline was born in 2017 as a reaction from IAG to Norwegian’s commitment to El Prat, which also in June, and just four days apart, opened a long-haul base at the airport to link the Catalan capital with America.
The previous CEO of IAG, Willie Walsh, assured in 2018 that his intention was to separate Level from Iberia by 2020, raise it as a full-fledged company, with its own structure, and increase connections and fleet at full speed. By 2022 they expected to reach 15 aircraft based in Barcelona and were considering opening a route with Tokyo. The pandemic paralyzed those plans, but another opportunity now arises.
