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Vueling S.A. (, ; ) is a Spanish low-cost airline based at Viladecans in Greater Barcelona with operating bases at Barcelona–El Prat Airport (main), Orly Airport in Paris, France, Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Gatwick Airport in London, United Kingdom, and Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy (secondary). It is the largest airline in Spain as measured by fleet size and number of destinations. As of 2021, Vueling serves 122 destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, and carried more than 34 million passengers in 2019. Since 2013, it has been an operating company of International Airlines Group, the parent company of British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus.
Initially, major shareholders of Vueling were Apax Partners (40%), Inversiones Hemisferio (Grupo Planeta) (30%), Vueling's management team (23%) and V.A. Investor (JetBlue Airways) (7%). During its nascent stages, the company's general manager was Lázaro Ros, while Carlos Muñoz was CEO. In November 2007, Vueling appointed managing director of Spanair Lars Nygaard as CEO to replace Carlos Muñoz, who remained a member of the board of directors.
Madrid was added as the airline's second base in 2005, followed by its first base outside Spain at Paris CDG in 2007. Seville followed in December 2009.
In January 2011, further expansion was announced with Vueling adding a further nine aircraft to its fleet, including Airbus A319 aircraft. Six Airbus A320s were delivered between April and June 2011, whilst the remaining two A320s were delivered by the end of 2011.
On 21 March 2012, it was announced by CEO Alex Cruz that Rome would be added as a new base. The base launched on 25 March 2012 with one aircraft based there: the airline has since expanded at Rome with numerous new destinations. On 5 December 2012, Vueling announced the opening of a new base of operations in Florence: the carrier is to base one aircraft there and serve four new European destinations. Ten months later, on 25 October 2013, Vueling launched Florence-Catania, its first domestic route in Italy.
Since November 2013, the airline has continued to expand from its airline hub at Barcelona. On 6 November 2013, Vueling announced a new base with one aircraft in Brussels Airport, with seven new destinations from May 2014, in addition to the four previous routes from Brussels. Also in November 2013, Vueling announced an expansion of its base at Rome-Fiumicino. From mid-2014, 8 aircraft would be based there, operating more than 30 routes. This expansion meant Rome-Fiumicino would become Vueling's secondary hub, after Barcelona. In 2014, Vueling opened routes to Warsaw and Cracow in Poland, both of which were canceled in 2020.
During the first weekend of July 2016, Vueling had many delays and cancellations, which resulted in an investigation by the Spanish authorities. During the same month, Vueling cancelled all its flights to Sheremetyevo International Airport, Vilnius Airport and Rabat–Salé Airport. Clients were able to get a refund or fly to the nearest airport where Vueling flew. In October 2016, Vueling shut down their bases in Brussels, Catania and Palermo as part of restructuring measures.
In March 2017, Vueling canceled its route from Barcelona to Frankfurt Airport.
On 29 December 2017, it was announced that IAG would acquire Austrian airline Niki as a subsidiary for Vueling. However, Niki was later acquired by Niki Lauda, the owner of Laudamotion, with investment from Ryanair. A few months after losing the bid for Niki, IAG instead established Level Europe as a subsidiary of Vueling, operating as LEVEL, using four former Niki aircraft that had not been purchased by rival Lufthansa (and leased to Lauda).
In 2020, Vueling announced new routes linking Paris to Dubrovnik and Seville to Marrakesh. Subsequently in December 2024, Vueling announced that the airline will launch flights between Florence and Brussels in April 2025 using their Airbus A319 aircraft.
On July 23, 2025, 52 Jewish boys and their teacher were removed from a Vueling Airlines flight at Valencia. Israeli Minister Amichai Chikli said the Vueling crew called Israel a terrorist state. However, this claim is uncorroborated. The official statement from Vueling's X account, explained the Vueling's version of events, which are currently under investigation by the French government. According to Vueling, it was highly disruptive behavior of the teacher and her 52 pupils, despite of repeated warning, that lead to their forced disembarkation. The Vueling staff had the Jewish teacher arrested by the local police, and the police responded violently. One of the children's mothers, Karine Lamy, explained to journalists from the I24 channel, as reported by the news site Enfoque Judío, that the children "got on the plane, sit down and one of the children starts singing a song in Hebrew, but well, just like that, he starts singing." The reaction of the Vueling cabin crew, the mother said after speaking with her son and the group's teacher, was immediate: "The onboard staff approached them, including the teacher, and said, 'We're warning you now: if you continue singing or making noise, we'll call the police.'" According to the mother's account, the children calmed down and remained silent, but "five minutes later, without any further intervention from the staff, the police arrived. Vueling Airlines stated that the children "engaged in highly disruptive behaviour" by repeatedly tampering with the plane's emergency equipment and interrupting the crew's safety demonstration. Spain's Civil Guard said the passengers who were removed are French nationals and it was not aware of the group's religious affiliation.
On 27 March 2013, IAG improved its offer for Vueling, raising its offer per share from €7 to €9.25. Vueling shares quickly surged following the announcement, rising by 8.8% to €9.23 following a temporary suspension as BMAD waited on an official comment from Vueling regarding the updated offer. The acceptance period was also increased by 48 calendar days.
On 9 April 2013, the board of Vueling unanimously recommended shareholders accept an improved offer of €9.25 per share from IAG. IAG CEO Willie Walsh confirmed that the board had recommended the new offer; however, Walsh also stated that Vueling would not be merged with Iberia, saying, "Vueling will operate as a stand-alone entity in the IAG Group."
On 23 April 2013, IAG acquired control of Vueling, which saw the recently purchased 44.66% stake by IAG merged with Iberia's existing 45.85% stake to form a 90.51% shareholding. Vueling remains a standalone company now within the IAG, and its management structure is unchanged; however, Vueling's CEO reports directly to IAG CEO.
| +Vueling fleet | ||||
| Airbus A319-100 | 6 | — | 144 | |
| Airbus A320-200 | 92 | — | 180 | |
| 186 | ||||
| Airbus A320neo | 22 | — | 186 | |
| Airbus A321-200 | 18 | — | 220 | |
| Airbus A321neo | 4 | — | 236 | |
| Boeing 737 MAX 200 | — | 25 | 200 | Deliveries from 2026. |
| Boeing 737 MAX 10 | — | 25 | 230 | |
In July 2025, it was confirmed that the order for 50 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft ordered by parent company IAG in 2022 is intended for Vueling to replace older Airbus A320ceo aircraft and provide fleet expansion to become a mixed Airbus A320neo family and Boeing 737 MAX narrow-body fleet. The order also includes 100 options for the Boeing 737 MAX.
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