Alex Cruz is CEO of Barcelona-based airline Vueling, which serves more than 100 destinations and is now part of British Airways’ parent company IAG. He talks to Paul Revel about Vueling’s expansion plans
You are expanding operations across Europe - adding new bases in Brussels and Rome. What’s your strategy?
Our strategy is threefold. One is to fortify and grow in our home airport in Barcelona - we’re flying to 118 destinations from our home airport and next year we should be the airline with the largest number of short-haul destinations in Europe [from one airport]. The second objective is to continue connecting regional Spain. The third clearly is to expand on non-Spanish routes. We’ve told the market place and investors that by that by 2015 we will have over 100 aircraft - we currently have 70.
You’re competing with the likes of Easyjet, how do you differentiate from them?
The difference is large because we are already at the same level of service and product as a legacy airline. We’re an airline that connects passengers, not only to Vueling but to other airlines. We’re interlining and codesharing. We have two frequent flyer programmes - our own, but we also give Avios. We are distributing 50 per cent of our tickets through travel agencies. We have a business class.
People often describe Vueling as a ‘hybrid’ model – combining low-cost with full service. Do you agree?
There’s no such thing as a hybrid. There is only one thing – a really low-cost base, and then the product that everyone wants. We don’t belong to the product base that Easyjet and Ryanair do. Carolyn [McCall, Easyjet’s CEO] was saying they will never have a lounge – how can you say that? People love the lounge - people kill to get the miles to get gold status so they can access the lounge, that’s what frequent flyers and travellers want.
But you’ve said you mind Vueling publicly described as a low-cost airline…
That’s because today a lot of people won’t bother going to lufthansa.com or airfrance.com, because they associate a high price point with those big traditional airlines – which many times is not the case. At the same time there is tremendous association with having a better deal by going to easyjet.com or Ryanair.com or vueling.com because we are in that space. But I challenge anyone in the industry to tell us we’re not a full-service airline from a product and service perspective.
How has being acquired by IAG made a difference to Vueling?
The biggest single item has been cheaper aircraft, it was great new for us when IAG got involved with the negotiations with Airbus. IAG understands us very well - they respect us and don’t interfere, and are tremendously supportive of what we are doing. I imagine that will change if we lose money one day.