Spain’s Volotea will this spring open its seventh airport base in France, noting that flights to/from France make up 49% of the carrier’s operations.

The newest base, to open April 1, will be at Lille Airport (LIL). Volotea, which has operated to France for a decade, said it will also open an eighth base in France this year, although it has not named an airport.

Volotea said it has transported nearly 1 million passengers to/from LIL since 2012. In 2022, the airline will offer more than 490,000 seats to/from LIL.

“We’re very proud to announce the launch of our new base at Lille airport, and therefore our seventh base in the French market,” CEO Carlos Muñoz said, adding that Volotea is offering “more and more seats to more and more destinations in France and in Europe, in order to connect northern France to as many cities as possible via attractively priced [nonstop] flights.”

LIL DG Marc-André Gennart said he has been “engaged in constructive and professional dialogue with Carlos Muñoz, CEO of Volotea, and his colleagues,” adding: “All of the teams at Lille airport and its partners have welcomed this news really enthusiastically, and we will do everything that we can to ensure that Volotea will be able to undertake its business operations in Lille, and to provide our passengers with the best travel experience possible … A base will mean not only new destinations and travel opportunities, but also, let’s not forget, new local jobs being created straight away.”

Volotea will become the largest airline flying out of LIL in terms of destinations served.