Greek flag carrier Aegean Airlines has invested €25m ($27.7m) into Spanish low-cost airline Volotea through a convertible loan during a joint capital increase programme for the latter.
Aegean joined existing Volotea stakeholders to provide half of a €50m investment into the airline alongside signing an agreement to cooperate in a range of areas such as distribution, codesharing, and pilot training.
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Aegean chairman Eftichios Vassilakis said: “Aegean and Volotea may have different operating models and products but are, in many ways, complementary and share a customer-focused philosophy.
“We are investing in Volotea because we believe in the strategy and potential of Volotea’s expandable model, but also to deepen our distribution reach into three highly significant source markets (France, Italy and Spain).”
Aegean said that the investment into Volotea could also be doubled in Q2 2025 if the airline meets various financial performance conditions, with the Greek company to invest another €25m if the second tranche occurs.
The initial convertible loan is worth 13% of Volotea shares, if converted, and would rise to the equivalent of a 21% stake in the event of the second investment.
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By GlobalDataThe separate memorandum of understanding signed between the airlines will also see the companies work to “exploit the synergies between the two companies” through cross-selling products on each of their websites and looking to further develop their international networks.
The airlines are also exploring cooperation on the provision of MRO and flight simulator training services by Aegean to cover some of Volotea’s training and maintenance needs.
Volotea founder and CEO Carlos Muñoz said: “We have known AEGEAN and their team as partners for several years now, and share a similar philosophy, values and vision toward European airline consolidation.
“We are extremely happy with this new step in our successful partnership together.”
Volotea was founded in 2011 and primarily operates flights in and between Italy, France and Spain, with some services also operational in Greece and Germany, using a fleet of 44 A319 and A320 aircraft.
Despite the recent investment round, the company said it was still considering launching an IPO after making moves towards the idea last year, but Muñoz told the press that any stock market debut was unlikely to take place before early 2025.
