Vueling Airlines takes off with Apax

Apax Partners has joined forces with Inversiones Hemisferio and the US airline JetBlue Airways to set up a new airline. Backed by a total investment of €30m, the firms have jointly created Vueling Airlines, which will be based in Barcelona. The new airline currently has three aircraft and plans to start flying out of El Prat Airport to several destinations in the south of Europe as of this June. The firm will have its offices in the Polígono Masblau in Barcelona. Vueling will not be flying to secondary airports, and as such, may not want to impinge on the territory of the low-cost airlines, however, sources close to the company have indicated that the airline will principally operate online, in a similar way to firms such as Easyjet and Ryanair.Although Vueling’s actual destinations have not yet been announced, the airline is believed to be seeking to connect Mediterranean cities which share common economic interests and are located in the so-called Eurozone. Apax Partners led a €39m investment in The Wisdom Group this month and recently backed the management buyout of DMR Consulting. www.vueling.com

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