Catalan airline Vueling obtained a net profit of €41 million during the third quarter of 2011

Barcelona (ACN).- The Catalan airline Vueling obtained an operational profit of €60.8 million at the end of the third quarter (between July and September). This represents an increase of 2% compared to the same time period last year. Whereas the operational profit, before taxes and financial interests, almost reached €61 million, the net profit remained at €41 million, 5.38% less than the same period last year. The company, which is one of Spain’s main airlines, stressed that the result has come at a time when there has been a significant increase in the price of fuel. One of the reasons that benefited the improvement was the increase of transported passengers, which grew by 20.8% compared to the same quarter in 2010. Vueling has opened new routes in France over the past few months, enlarging its base at Toulouse. Vueling began its activities in 2004 as an independent low-cost airline but flying to important airports. In 2009, it merged with Iberia’s Clickair and the Barcelona-based airline is developing an international expansion strategy, which includes flight connections at some of its bases.

The number of travellers transported by the company reached 4.2 million during the third quarter of 2011. The figure allowed Vueling improve its occupancy rate by more than three points and closed the quarter with a rate of 80.5%. This growth was also due to the increase in activity at Vueling’s international operational bases at Amsterdam and Toulouse, as well as the airline’s movement towards Madrid to feed the intercontinental flights of Iberia, the biggest Spanish airline, in terms of passengers and fleet.

Vueling’s third quarter turnover reached €330.478 million, an increase of 19.5% compared to the same period in 2010. The Catalan airline believes that the next quarter's results might be affected by the “weak” demand of the Spanish domestic market, which has been dragged down by a low consumption rate, and also by the upward trend of oil prices.