On May 28th, an Alaska Airlines Airbus A320 could be spotted above France, making its way from
Scotland down to the Balearic Islands in Spain.You may already know that Alaska Airlines doesn’t
operate any transatlantic flights. So why exactly was one of its aircraft so far away from home?
The short answer is that the aircraft was on lease from Carlysle Aviation Partners.
It was part of Spanish all-Airbus budget carrier Volotea’s strategy
to position itself competitively as the industry rebounds post-crisis.
While set to change with the introduction of JetBlue’s Airbus A321LR on routes to London, it
is usually an uncommon sight to see US airlines’ narrowbodies on this side of the Atlantic.
That’s why it was strange to see an Alaska Airlines A320 arrive at Palma De Mallorca Airport.
Of course, the aircraft registered as November6-2-3-VictorAlpha did not fly
straight from the States. It arrived in Spain from Bangor, Maine, via Glasgow in Scotland.
The 15-year-old jet began its journey at 06:44 local time on Thursday May 27th,
and spent the night in the UK.. It continued towards Mallorca at 11:18 the next day.
This was its last flight as November6-2-3-VictorAlpha.
The plane, beginning its service with Virgin America in 2006, was handed
over to Spanish low-cost carrier Volotea and re-registered as EchoCharlie-NovemberOscarLima.
Furthermore, its new caretaker has already named it ‘Love At First Flight’.
This wasn’t actually the first time an Alaska A320 joined the Volotea fleet.
In March, November6-2-1-VictorAlpha, currently known made the exact same journey. That aircraft
has since been reregistered as as EchoCharlie-NovemberNovemberZulu.
Both aircraft are leased from Miami-based Carlyle Aviation Partners
and were stored at multiple locations across the US, including Victorville,
Greensboro, and San Antonio International, before making the journey eastwards.
While it’s nothing earthshattering to have a leased aircraft move from one airline to another,
it certainly would have been a strange sight to see an A320
in Alaska Airlines livery in Europe - even if it wasn’t actually an Alaska Airlines flight...
Leasing the A320s is part of Volotea’s strategy for increasing capacity as it has retired its
Boeing 717s and transitioned to an all-Airbus fleet. While in existence for only nine years,
Volotea has had a history as Europe’s last 717 operator,
having flown a total of 19 of Boeing’s out-of-production jet.
Up until its late-May delivery, Volotea had a fleet consisting of 20 Airbus A319s
and six A320s. All of the A320s had arrived at some point after January this year.
The Barcelona-headquartered carrier will lease more A320s as it looks to
increase competitiveness during the post-COVID recovery phase. The planes have previously worn
the livery of airlines such as Aeroflot, GoAir, and Spanish competitor Vueling.
Speaking at an online conference in March, Volotea’s CEO Carlos Muñoz
said that the airline was also looking at potentially acquiring Airbus A220s.
What do you think of Volotea’s future fleet plans?
How will the airline continue to grow? Leave a comment below and let us know.