Vueling Airlines is one of the largest airlines in Spain with a fleet size of 125 and with a reach of 148 destinations around the globe. But the question is: How safe is Vueling Airlines? According to the safety rating criteria and procedures, Vueling Airline is a safe airline with a 5 out of 7-star rating for safety measures. Also, the airline provides good quality products inside the plane which is rated as 3.5 out of 5. Vueling Airlines carried 34 million passengers in 2019. The company started its operations almost 19 years ago till now without any complaints or fatal accidents. In this blog post, we will take a deep dive into Vueling Airlines to know – Is Vueling Airlines safe or not. Also, we will take a look at some of the high-quality services they are providing, and the safety criteria they follow.
Vueling Airlines Fleet
Vueling Airlines operates with a fleet size of 120 narrowbody all-airbus aircraft. These aircraft aged around an average of 9 years which is not very old as compared to other European airlines of the same sizes. If we talk about other airlines like Lufthansa, United Airlines, or KLM, the average age of these airline fleets are 10.5 years, 16.5 years, and 10.9 years respectively.
Vueling Airlines is also operating with some of the old aircraft like A319s and A320s which was in operation from 2006 till now. The airline is also planning to add eight A320neo and nine A321neo aircraft which will help the airline keep the safety of passengers on top priority and also maintain the low average fleet age.
These all-airbus narrowbody aircraft have some operational efficiencies, like the aircraft share some same parts and controls as the other aircrafts in the same family. This results in similar flight and navigational systems that those pilots who operate A319 are also able and qualified to fly A320s and A321s.
This shows that Vueling Airlines pilots are familiar with and completely able to fly other flights of the same family and characteristics. This quality makes the airline much better than others.
Vueling Airlines is using one of the safest, most efficient, and most advanced passenger aircraft in the world. These aircrafts are the part of A320 family and were the first civil aircraft to utilize fly-by-wire technology. There is a list of no. operational fleet including 5 A319s, 101 A320s, and 17 A321s. These aircraft are currently being used by the world’s trusted names in Aviation Industries like, Air Canada, American Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa, etc.
Vueling Airlines Ratings
Vueling Airlines is a 4-star certified low-cost airline for the products and services it provides and the quality of its airports. These ratings are based on the comfort of the cabin, charges for seats and baggage, food and beverages they offer to purchase, and cleanliness inside the cabin. These ratings are based on the audits done by IOSA and IATA associations which are responsible for providing airlines a global safety standard certification. These airline certifications last for 2 years and have to be renewed after that.
Vueling Safety Standards and Audits
The Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency – AESA (Agencia Estatal De Seguridad Aerea) is the safety-regulating agency for Vueling. AESA Safety Audit provides a result of 80% to 100% implementation for the eight audited areas. These ratings are good enough and above the global average of all audit areas. The IATA is the final declaration of the airline safety regulations.
JACDEC Safety
In a study conducted in 2021 by Hamburg-based Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC) shows that Vueling is the 19th-place airline out of 100. JACDEC evaluated all the 100 airlines and measured them by revenue passenger performance (RPKs) and other factors as well. Check the factor below:
- Fleet Age
- History of accidents since 1989
- International Safety Audits
- Government guidelines and openness for aviation safety
- Risk factors for the country like high terrain, weather, etc.)
- Route profile/proportion of short-haul flights
The evaluated risk factor for Vueling was 90.56 in the year 2021, and JACDEC gave a clean chit to Vueling Airlines saying that they have not suffered from any of the accidents since 1989 whether fatal, non-fatal, or total hull loss accidents. The airline that was on top in JACDEC in the year 2021 was Emirates scored 94.75. Vueling Airlines scored higher in 2021 as compared to its IAG counterparts in JACDEC. These counterparts are Malaysia Airlines on the 97th, American Airlines on the 73rd, Iberia on the 71st, Alaska Airlines on the 66th, British Airways on the 59th, Japan Airlines on the 55th, Qatar Airways on the 33rd, and Qanats on the 26th.
Vueling Airlines Safety Record
Vueling Airlines aircraft face occasional maintenance issues caused by diversions, bird or lightning strikes, turbulence, or some landing safety reasons. Compared to other airlines, Vueling Airlines didn’t face any frequent incidents and no cause for concern. After doing some research about the safety records, researchers found that Vueling Aircraft are the safest ones which didn’t even face any fatal accidents or result in injuries. Check out the below-mentioned table below for detailed information:
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Commentary |
| May 2016 | A320 | Manchester Airport, UK | The aircraft crashed with a service vehicle on the ground with no injuries. |
| June 2017 | A320 | Alicante Airport, Spain | The aircraft crashed on the ground with a service vehicle and no injuries happened. |
| October 2018 | A320 | Bilbao Airport, Spain | Engine cowling detachment at the time of take-off with no injuries. |
Conclusion
Vueling is one of the biggest names in European Airlines and is owned by Europe’s major airline group – IAG. Vueling is a safe airline as the aircraft they are using to operate are all modern flights of airlines. Most of the aircraft are completely new including Airbus A319, A320, and A32. These aircraft are the major fleets of Vueling Airlines with more of these on order. This IOSA-registered airline is very much capable of the Spanish safety regulator – EASA and has also scored high in the JACDEC safety assessment in the year 2021. This blog post includes all the related information to know: Is Vueling Airlines safe or not? This article also includes the sections showing the Vueling safety rating, criteria, and other important aspects. Passengers can read the complete article to tackle any kind of issue before planning their next travel. Happy Journey!
FAQs
Vueling Airlines is not a part of British Airways but is owned by the same parent company which is IAG (International Airlines Group).
Vueling Airlines is owned by IAG (pronounced as International Airlines Group) from 2013 till now. IAG is also the parent company, and acquired British Airways, and Iberia.
Vueling Airlines is one of the strict airlines as they have a metal box available on the ticket counter. If your bag does not fit properly, then you will have to pay the full amount after getting that bag checked in.
Vueling Airlines is very safe and one can book their flight with closed eyes. In the past years, there have been no major fatal accidents encountered with Vueling Airlines.