Brave or foolish? Spanish tycoons launch new regional airline

Their plan is to offer flights linking Europe's oft-neglected medium sized cities, and €50 million of equity funding would suggest there are others willing to take a punt on the idea too. The new airline, which is called Volotea, will use 125-seat all-economy class Boeing 717s formerly owned by Mexican airline Mexicana, with flights starting on April 5.

Doesn't this just sound like a Spanish version of Flybe? Absolutely, they openly admit that they want to emulate the British regional carrier. Southern Europe doesn't have a Flybe equivalent, so there is plenty of scope for such a venture. Likely bases include Bilbao, La Coruna and Granada in Spain, as well as Venice in Italy.

It will be very interesting to see if Volotea succeeds considering the current parlous state of the airline industry. Two European carriers – Malev and Spanair - have gone under during the past few weeks, and the Indian start-up Kingfisher is teetering on the edge. Volotea might just have found itself a tidy little niche if it can keep its prices down. I for one wouldn't say no to some flights to Bilbao from Birmingham!