Barcelona-based LEVEL, International Airlines Group’s low-cost long-haul airline, will soon receive its own Air Operator Certificate (AOC), becoming a fully-fledged airline, according to a presentation posted on IAG’s website for the company’s 2023 Capital Markets Day.
This will also make the airline the fifth in the IAG group together with British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus.
Until now LEVEL had been operating as a brand of Iberia and using the Spanish flag carrier’s AOC.
In addition to gaining its own legal personality, LEVEL will also see its fleet increased to eight aircraft.
LEVEL currently operates a fleet of five Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
In September 2023, the airline announced that it would receive a sixth aircraft of the same type in March 2024, with which it will launch a new route between Barcelona (BCN) and Miami (MIA).
The two additional A330s slated to join the fleet had previously operated for Virgin Australia until 2020, when they were put in storage. At least one of these aircraft has reportedly been recently flown from Perth, Australia, to Europe via Istanbul.
The new aircraft should allow LEVEL to expand its long-haul flight program out of Barcelona from where it currently flies to Boston (BOS), New York (JFK), San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX), Buenos Aires (EZE) and Santiago de Chile (SCL).