Vueling exceeds 70,000 passengers on board its Grand Départ del Tour plane
As official airline of the Grand Départ of the Tour de France Barcelona 2026, Vueling On March 27, it premiered a vinyl airplane with the image of the cycling test. Since then, the plane has made nearly 500 flights and carried more than 70,000 passengers.
The aircraft, which presents a dynamic illustration of cycling platoons in full effort, has traveled to 57 different destinations, spread across 13 European countries as well as Morocco. This Airbus A320 with the colors of the Tour has already become an international air ambassador of the cycling event, which this July 4 will take off from Barcelona in its 113th edition.
France and, in particular, Paris have been fundamental pillars for Vueling since its inception in 2004, when the Barcelona–Paris route began operations. From then until today, this relationship has been significantly strengthened. As an example, between July 1 and 6 (coinciding with the Grand Départ), Vueling will have an offer of 20,000 seats on the Barcelona-Paris route (Orly and Charles de Gaulle), with an average of 11 daily frequencies between both cities.
Today, the airline has established itself as the leader in Spain-France air flows, transporting one in three passengers between both countries. This dominance becomes even more evident in the Barcelona–Paris connection, where Vueling transports one in every two travelers, operating up to 77 weekly flights that link with its hub at Barcelona airport.
The relevance of this market is strongly reflected in the airport of Paris-Orlypositioned as the company’s most important international base and where it is already the second operator with the largest offer of seats. The airline consolidates its prominent presence in the French market during the 2026 summer season, offering a total of 23 routes from airports in Paris-Orly and Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
Meeting point at the Tour Fan Park
This is the first time that Barcelona will host the official start of the event, consolidating the city and Catalonia as international references in sport. In addition, Vueling will also participate in the stages of Barcelona, Tarragona and Granollers-Les Angles.
About Vueling
Vueling, a company belonging to the IAG group, is a leading airline in Europe and key in connectivity in Spain.
It is a leader in its main base at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, in connections within Spain and in other relevant airports such as Bilbao. It also leads the connection between the peninsula and the Balearic and Canary Islands. At an international level, it is working to strengthen its presence in bases such as Paris-Orly. The company has a network of around 250 routes a year that connect 30 countries. In 2025, it has operated more than 227,000 flights and carried around 40 million passengers.
With more than 5,000 employees, Vueling is the only European Top Employer airline for the third consecutive year. The company is firmly committed to decarbonising the sector and, as part of the IAG group, has committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 through the implementation of the FlightPath Net Zero strategy.
True to its digital DNA, Vueling was the first airline to sell tickets through the mobile application and to have a digital boarding pass with QR code. Likewise, the airline has a team of more than 600 people who work in its innovation hubs in Barcelona and Zaragoza.
