Today we thought we would look back and see what happened to Spanish low-cost carrier (LCC) Clickair. Based at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN), Clickair was originally called Catair because of its connections with Catalonia’s autonomous region.
Before launching operations in 2006, Catair decided to change its name to Clickair. The change was made because the airline expected most of its ticket sales to come from online purchases. Customers would visit the airlines’ website and then click to buy tickets. Like other LCCs, the plan would be to sell tickets cheaply and make revenue from online food, drinks, and goods sales.
Iberia was behind Clickair
Spanish national flag carrier Iberia was behind the startup along with Iberostar, Cobra, Nefinsa, and Quercus Equity, with each of the five partners owning 20% of the airline. Despite only owning 20%, Iberia controlled 80% of Clickair’s economic rights. Iberia and its partners had ambitious plans for the budget airline to operate a fleet of 30 Airbus A320s on 70 routes and be carrying around ten million passengers a year by 2008.
Clickair was given the defunct Regional Lineas Aereas IATA code XG. Despite its lofty ambitions, Clickair started flying five routes with three Airbus A320s from its base at Barcelona El Prat Airport.
Clickair merged with Vueling
While 2007 might have been a good year for aviation safety, it was a bad year financially, with both Barcelona-based Clickair and Vueling struggling to turn a profit. To remedy the situation, Vueling and Clickair decided to merge in June 2008. The two airlines intended to create a carrier that was better able to compete in the Spanish air market while also reducing fuel costs. With Iberia still the main partner, the new airline would operate under the Vueling name with Clickair’s Alex Cruz as the boss.
Since completing…