Aegean Airlines has participated in the capital increase of Barcelona-based low-cost airline Volotea. The Greek company has decided to invest 25 million euros in this operation, in which the existing shareholders have also participated, bringing the total to 50 million euros. The investment has been made through a participating loan which will be convertible into shares.

The parties have in addition agreed to a second tranche of the convertible loan in the second quarter of 2025, subject to a number of conditions related primarily to Volotea's financial performance this year. This will be a further 50 million euros, of which the Greek airline is again expected to contribute 25 million euros.

Shareholding
If the two tranches are completed, the capital increase will amount to a total of 100 million euros, of which Aegean will have contributed 50 million euros. The company will hold a 13% stake in Volotea in the event that its first contribution is converted into shares. If it also does the same with the second tranche, its share will reach 21%.

In parallel to this transaction, Aegean and Volotea have signed a memorandum of understanding with the aim of cooperating in distribution and other commercial areas to exploit synergies between the two companies. They will essentially focus on selling their products on the websites of both companies.

International network
Through the agreement in principle, they also plan to jointly develop and operate the international network between Greek regional airports and key European markets such as France, Italy and Spain. They will also explore cooperation in the provision of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) services, and Aegean will cover an important need for Volotea by providing flight simulator training for its pilots.

Aegean Chairman Eftichios Vassilakis highlighted the opportunity to reach three important markets such as France, Italy and Spain "and join forces to provide more direct connectivity from these markets to Greece's regional airports," and added, "Aegean and Volotea may have different operating models and products, but in many ways, they are complementary and share a customer-centric philosophy.

Consolidation of European airlines
Volotea founder and CEO Carlos Muñoz described the investment as "extremely important", and explained, "We have known Aegean and its team as partners for several years and share a similar philosophy, values and vision towards the consolidation of European airlines. We are very pleased with this new step in our successful joint partnership."

Founded in 2011, Volotea started operations in 2012. Today, it operates from 22 bases, most of them in France, Italy and Spain, which account for around 90% of its operations. The remaining 10% is accounted for by operations in Greece and Germany. It serves more than 450 routes and carried 10.3 million passengers in 2023.

^{Photo: Aegean}