Vueling S.A. (, ) is a Spanish low-cost airline based at El Prat de Llobregat in Greater Barcelona with hubs at Barcelona–El Prat Airport (main), Paris-Orly Airport in Paris, France and Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy (secondary). It is the largest airline in Spain, measured by fleet size and number of destinations. As of 2021, Vueling serves 122 destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, and carried more than 34 million passengers in 2019. Since 2013, it has been an operating company of International Airlines Group, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia. History Early years Vueling was established on 10 February 2004 and commenced operations on 1 July 2004 with a flight between Barcelona and Ibiza. The initial fleet consisted of two Airbus A320 aircraft, based in Barcelona serving Brussels, Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca and Paris-CDG. The name Vueling was formed by combining the Spanish word vuelo (flight) with the English gerund suffix -ing. Initially, major shareholders of Vueling were Apax Partners (40%), Inversiones Hemisferio (Grupo Planeta) (30%), Vueling's management team (23%) and V.A. Investor (JetBlue Airways) (7%). During its nascent stages, the company's general manager was Lázaro Ros, while Carlos Muñoz was CEO. In November 2007, Vueling appointed managing director of Spanair Lars Nygaard as CEO to replace Carlos Muñoz, who remained a member of the Board of Directors. Madrid was added as the airline's second base in 2005, followed by its first base outside Spain at Paris CDG in 2007. Seville followed in December 2009. Financial concerns and management re-shuffle In 2007 Apax Partners sold its then-21% stake in the carrier in June of that year, followed by two profit warnings issued in August and October. Two company directors and the chairman resigned shortly before the second profit warning, citing differences over commercial strategy. Shares in the company were also temporarily suspended. This led to Barbara Cassani, former Chief Executive of UK low-cost airline Go, joining Vueling as chairman of the board in September 2007. The airline then embarked on a restructuring exercise and posted its first profit in mid-2009. Vueling and Clickair merger In June 2008, Vueling and rival Spanish low-cost airline Clickair announced their intention to merge. The merger was designed to create a carrier better able to compete in the competitive Spanish airline market and mitigate high fuel costs with Iberia as the main industrial partner. While the new