Airline Startup Of The Week: Spain’s World2Fly

Spain’s World2Fly is all set to start flying next month after it received its Air Operators License (AOC). The carrier will operate a fleet of Airbus A350s and A330s from Madrid and Lisbon to destinations in Latin America. Let’s find out more about this carrier.

World2Fly plans to take delivery of its first A350-900 this month, with two more planes joining the fleet over the next year. Photo: Airbus

Ready to go

According to Routesonline, World2Fly has secured its AOC this week, clearing the way for it to begin flights. The carrier plans to offer transatlantic flights to destinations in Latin America starting this summer. World2Fly will operate its first-ever flight on 19th June from bases in Madrid–Barajas and Lisbon Airport.

The airline is owned by Iberostar, a global hotel and tourism chain that owns 120 luxury properties globally, including in Latin America. World2Fly will primarily function as a leisure charter airline, carrying travelers to Iberostars properties in three countries at first.

World2Fly will join the ranks of European leisure charter airlines such as TUI, Condor, and others. Photo: Airbus

The airline’s first three destinations will:

• Havana, Cuba
• Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
• Cancun, Mexico

All of these routes will be served twice weekly from Madrid and once weekly from Lisbon from 19th June onwards.

Unique layout

As we draw closer to World2Fly’s first flight, we have more details about the carrier’s cabin configuration. The airline will feature a whopping 432 seats on its A350-900, close to the aircraft’s maximum capacity. This likely signals the A350 will be configured in a single-class economy layout, one of the few airlines opting for this.

Meanwhile, the A330-300s are slightly less dense, with only 388 seats. The A330-300 can carry up to 440 in a single class configuration, which means that Which2Fly’s aircraft might possibly feature a premium economy. However, this could also mean a more comfortable economy layout for passengers.

World2Fly will have one of the densest A350-900s in the sky when it takes delivery. Photo: Airbus

World2Fly’s Director General Bruno Claeys has said the airline would take delivery of one A350 and one A330 this month. The next A350 will join the fleet in May 2022, while dates for the other A330s remain unknown for now.

According to Planespotters.net, the airline’s A350-900 is registered EC-NOI and was originally meant to go to Aeroflot. However, the latter deferred delivery, allowing World2Fly to take it up instead. However, the Spanish carrier’s A330-300s are on lease from AerCap and well over 10 years old.

Travel reopening

As travel slowly reopens, travelers are desperate to fly out and get some sun. Most popular destinations in Latin America opened their borders months ago, allowing visitors globally to enter quarantine-free. As Europe eases travel restrictions, expect many to fly long-haul to their favorite leisure spots soon.

However, questions over testing and quarantine upon return to Europe remain in doubt currently. While Germany has removed most restrictions for travel from nearly 100 countries, the UK has only cleared 12 countries for quarantine-free travel. The coming weeks will provide more clarity on the popularity of World2Fly’s plans and travel rules.

What do you think about World2Fly’s plans? Would you fly with them? Let us know in the comment!

 

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