Volotea’s woes continue. According to reports appeared in the Spanish media on September 29, 2026, the regional low-cost airline has filed for preliminary creditor protection at a Barcelona court.
Under Spanish corporate law, this move (“preconcurso” in Spanish) is one step short of requesting full creditor protection. It shields the airline to some degree from its creditors’ potential claims while the management team, rather than a court appointed administrator, remains fully in control of the negotiations.
The airline is reported to be working with its creditors on a roadmap to restore its financial health and has insisted that it continues to operate as normal. However, earlier in September 2026, the carrier announced its intention to downsize, cutting its fleet by around a quarter and laying off 50 members of staff at its headquarters.
Despite posting record revenue of €818 million and a positive EBIT of €47.4 million in 2025, Volotea’s results fell short of its own previous guidance for the year. The airline also saw a worsening of its bottom-line results, from a €46 million to a €64 million net loss. This was Volotea’s seventh consecutive annual loss.
The Barcelona-based airline, which specializes in connecting secondary cities across Europe with each other rather than through major hubs, has blamed the fuel crisis triggered by the Straits of Hormuz closure for its current predicament. The rise in jet fuel prices is said to have had an impact of €150 million on the airline’s accounts.
At the same time, Volotea is struggling to return the €200 million it still owes to Spanish government-owned financial institutions, as well as part of a €150 million loan it received from a consortium of banks. The latter is guaranteed by the Spanish official credit institute (“ICO”, a government-owned development bank which supports Spanish firms). Both credit facilities were part of the emergency measures that allowed Volotea to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Negotiations to soften the terms of all these loans are reportedly ongoing in parallel to the latest judiciary move.