Spain’s Volotea ends B717 operations

Volotea (V7, Asturias) has retired all of its remaining B717-200s and will exclusively operate A319-100s going forward, according to multiple media reports. The Boeing regional jet’s last revenue flight was on the evening of January 10, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows. Flight V71514 from Palermo to Genoa was operated by EI-FCB (msn 55191). According to the ch-aviation schedules module, Volotea no longer plans any further B717 operations. The Spanish regional low-cost carrier had eight active B717-200s at the beginning of the year, including three owned units previously operated by Blue 1 (KF, Helsinki Vantaa) and five dry-leased from Ruby Leasing (Ireland), four of which were previously operated by MexicanaClick (QA, México City Int’l) and one by Midwest Airlines (YX, Milwaukee General Mitchell). They were all retired and ferried for storage at Venice Marco Polo by January 11, 2021. Volotea also owns a further one B717-200, which has been in storage at Verona since November 2019. The carrier originally planned to retire the B717s in 2022 but accelerated the plan due to the drop in demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the ch-aviation fleets history module, the B717 was Volotea’s inaugural type. Between 2011 and 2015, it exclusively operated this type, expanding the fleet to a maximum of 19 aircraft. In 2016, Volotea began gradually replacing its B717s with A319s. It currently operates 20 of the Airbus narrowbodies. The Spanish airline was one of just four remaining B717 operators globally. The type remains in service with Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, and Cobham Aviation Services Australia – Airline Services.