AN airline you probably won’t have heard of has been named Europe’s Leading Low-Cost Airline for 2024.
And even better – they have cheap flights from the UK.
Spanish airline Voltea was named the best budget airline at this year’s World Travel Awards (WTA).
Dubbed the ‘Oscars of Tourism’, WTA has been running since 1993, with winners selected by a system of both votes and verified travel professionals.
And Voltea beat other low-cost airlines, including both easyJet and Ryanair.
Despite bases in just five European countries – Spain, Greece, Italy, France and Spain – the airline carried 10.4million passengers last year.
And there are cheap UK flights too.
Brits can fly from London Gatwick with Volotea to two destinations.
The cheapest flights are to French city Strasbourg, which launched last year.
The route has €29 (£25) fares, even across September, October and November.
And new flights are being launched from Gatwick to French town Brest this November, starting from €33 (£28).
The airline’s founder, Carlos Muñoz, said the success was because they connected “small cities” with cheap flights.
He previously told Skift: “It’s a very differentiated company from the others; it’s the only low-cost airline dedicated to small cities.
“It has way less competition than anybody else.
“We connect cities like nobody else, at a pretty decent price and provide a good experience.”
Of course, being a budget airline, passengers will need to check the luggage capacity before arriving at the airport.
Standard ticket holders can only take an underseat bag for free into the cabin – no more than 40cm x 30cm x 20cm.
Anyone who wants to take a hand-luggage sized suitcase into the cabin will have to pay for the Megavolotea fares.
There are still restrictions for this too – with the small bag and cabin bag having to weigh less than 10kg.
Otherwise there is the Megavolotea Plus which also includes priority boarding.
Rule-breakers with oversized luggage will be fined €65 (£56) at the airport.
Passengers are advised to book checked bags via the app or website rather than at the airport to save money.
Depending on the weight (ranging from 10kg to 25kg), this can start from as little as €9.
This goes up to €35 at check in or €65 at the boarding gate.
Another study recently named Ryanair as one of the best budget airlines in the world.
The Skytrax World Airline Awards – which awarded Volotea third place – saw Ryanair take the 10th spot, followed by easyJet in 11th.
And Turkish Airlines was named the overall best European Airline 2024 by Skytrax.
And we tried out one of the world’s best airlines – here’s our verdict.
