More news coming very soon....but the decision is near to be complet.
LEVEL will be based in MAD.

https://cronicaglobal.elespanol.com/bus ... 2_amp.html

Well...trying hard to stay off hot political topics as much as possible...but certainly this is one of many unwelcome results given by the reckless Catalan insurrection...
IAG already has a lot on their plate with Vueling (based and HQ'd in LBL) so I suppose they are trying to keep their latest venture a tad safer with a MAD base...

That is a MAD decision IMHO.

Considering tourism is already quite a bit in Catalonia, it probably makes a lot of sense to diversify with the option to move back later.

I suspect tourism will be back by next year, but the current political mess will certainly impact business for many years to come, so I'd bet Level doesn't fully leave but may concentrate a bit on MAD, particularly for EZE where they can try and keep the low end of the market on Level marketed flights and premium passengers on IB marketed flights.

All of that said, they're really going to have to get the immigration sorted out in T4S at Madrid if they really want to raise capacity that much.

I understand the politics, but for the airline industry it's a dumb move. Level exists to block DY. If DY has a free hand in BCN then Level has no real reason to exist.

IAG has a hard time nowadays. First the Brexit with unknown consequences for their business, now Catalunia with unknown consequences for their Barcelona hub.

MrBren wrote:

That is a MAD decision IMHO.

Really now?

So 'London Airways' now does a 'Madrid Airways'... quelle surprise...

To me it's all a big mess. IAG will have 5 airlines and their subsidiaries flying in and out of Madrid, offering connections between themselves: Iberia, Vueling, Level, Iberia Express and British Airways.

Dy will fill the gap BCN is too big market, never mix politics with money...

If they use level to open new destinations such as secondary american cities or asian places where yields are low, like Bkk,India...its ok, otherwise its crazy.
I wonder if Ib will allow that.

downtown273 wrote:

To me it's all a big mess. IAG will have 5 airlines and their subsidiaries flying in and out of Madrid, offering connections between themselves: Iberia, Vueling, Level, Iberia Express and British Airways.

Air Nostrum, BA City Flyer and Aer Lingus also serve MAD. EI isn't even in the same terminal.

So you can put 8 airlines there.

LupineChemist wrote:

Air Nostrum, BA City Flyer and Aer Lingus also serve MAD.

Actually Citiflyer stopped the route some months ago.

LupineChemist wrote:

Air Nostrum, BA City Flyer and Aer Lingus also serve MAD. EI isn't even in the same terminal.

So you can put 8 airlines there.

Air Nostrum is not owned by IAG.

Shouldn't they wait for the December elections in Catalonia to see what happens? So far, it is still an authonomous community in Spain and it shall remain as such as long as the politics don't change the scenario. I think they should wait a bit on this.

Considering the risk of longer trouble in Catalonia including the risk of strikes, it is a cautious decision.

I can't see what the problem is with continuing BCN ops.

Yes, the people will be promised a recession, house price crash, massive unemployment, terrorism, closure of business and moving of jobs, etc, etc but in reality life carries on much as it always did and will likely continue to grow, employment may hit record highs and inward investment may hit new highs and new companies arriving and current companies expanding could mean a bigger customer base for LEVEL.

A premature move. Isn't it just a threat to 'pivot' investment away from BCN if they do move?

Like banks and other business moving their headquarters out of Barcelona due to unknown business climate and legal situation, its a prudent move to an upstart like LEVEL with all of its eggs in single basket to look for alternatives and play it safe.

sevenair wrote:

I can't see what the problem is with continuing BCN ops.

Yes, the people will be promised a recession, house price crash, massive unemployment, terrorism, closure of business and moving of jobs, etc, etc but in reality life carries on much as it always did and will likely continue to grow, employment may hit record highs and inward investment may hit new highs and new companies arriving and current companies expanding could mean a bigger customer base for LEVEL.

A premature move. Isn't it just a threat to 'pivot' investment away from BCN if they do move?

I think u are watching a different movie. Things will recover and be as usual,sure. But it will take a while. I read that about 2000companies are out because of the scenareo.

ro1960 wrote:

AASAP777 wrote:

Shouldn't they wait for the December elections in Catalonia to see what happens? So far, it is still an authonomous community in Spain and it shall remain as such as long as the politics don't change the scenario. I think they should wait a bit on this.

If you have been following the news, Madrid has sacked Catalonia’s regional government and parliament before calling for an election. So Catalonia is no longer autonomous. Even their Police force (The Mossos d'Esquadra) is under control of the central government.

Sure. I've read about Article 155 and Rajoy taking over the Generalitat and its institutions. But I guess (I am not Spanish, hence I don't side Puigdemont or Rajoy) the people should be allowed to be heard on those elections. I've read all political organizations in Catalonia are going to participate, so this is definitely a chance to put the things the right away. Should the separatists win, there is no way back. Should the loyalists, same thing.

Businesswise, I guess LEVEL should wait for that. As Catalonia will not be right away a part of the EU should they finally get independent (and they'll have a hard time to be if they do become independent), the best thing for them will be moving elsewhere in Spain, but, only if everything is final.

mercure1 wrote:

Like banks and other business moving their headquarters out of Barcelona due to unknown business climate and legal situation, its a prudent move to an upstart like LEVEL with all of its eggs in single basket to look for alternatives and play it safe.

But IAG already said that they would develop Level from other Vueling bases, namely Paris and Rome. So, it was never their intent to put all eggs in the same basket. So, I cant see the rationale of operating from Madrid

rouelan wrote:

But IAG already said that they would develop Level from other Vueling bases, namely Paris and Rome. So, it was never their intent to put all eggs in the same basket. So, I cant see the rationale of operating from Madrid

They're leaving the BCN routes as they are. It's only their future routes that are being launched from MAD, not the current ones. They must feel that MAD offers a more stable future. Can't really blame them for that.

No doubt that this whole independence movement will affect BCN. Hopefully BCN will recover at some point when this is hopefully all over.

Otherwise, it would be nice to see BCN get even more South American routes. They have BOG, GRU, EZE, LIM, and SCL I believe. If they could get routes like CCS and GIG for example it would be an nice addition. Even if LEVEL flew to cities like HAV and MEX from BCN that would also be an welcomed addition as well.

How will this go down with the Iberia unions in Madrid? From what I understood from the agreement gotten to start up LEVEL from unions was that it wouldn't be used as a tool to threaten jobs in MAD, only for starting a fare war with DY.

MrBren wrote:

That is a MAD decision IMHO.

If this is a joke as "insane", it's a pretty bad one.

If you suggest this is a move decided by Madrid, it is simply wrong (and non sense)

IAG said at the results announcement on Friday that the next base for LEVEL would be announced in late November / early December and the final decision is some weeks away.

The logic behind companies moving away from Catalonia is the fear that they will be cut off from the rest of Spain.

There is no reason for IAG to move anything away from BCN to MAD, since their headquarters are already in MAD.

Of course they can adjust the capacity and revisit plans for further services, because the region is bound to suffer economically, but staying in Catalonia can be an advantage if the independence were to come through.

Vueling as a Catalonian airline, for example, could have its status as foreign-owned become grandfathered, something from which airlines that merely have aircraft based at Catalonian airports would not be able to profit.