IAG Group Vueling expects to see 9% growth this summer on services out of the UK with operation levels returning back to pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

The Spanish regional carrier will fly 278 international routes in total with 23 direct connections from the UK.

Expectations of growth come as the airline said it is working towards the “’deseasonalisation’ of its offer and increasing demand as part of its transformation strategy”.

Carolyn Prowse, Vueling chief commercial, customer, strategy and network officer, said: “This summer schedule highlights the company’s efforts to offer competitive and affordable prices to our customers with almost 300 routes to more than 100 attractive destinations.

“We continue reinforcing our position in Spain with outstanding leadership in Barcelona and Bilbao, in addition to consolidating our international commitment through London-Gatwick and Paris-Orly”.

The recovery of the UK market is driving growth and previously operated routes such as London Gatwick Alicante has returned to three weekly frequencies on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Popular routes connecting London Gatwick with Gran Canaria and Tenerife are also new this summer, following its successful launch just before Christmas last year.

There will be two flights per week (Wednesdays and Sundays) to Tenerife South and a twice-weekly service (Mondays and Fridays) to Gran Canaria.

The airline has connections from London to three countries (Spain, France and Italy) offering flights from five airports in the United Kingdom (London-Gatwick, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Manchester).

There are 17 routes available from London-Gatwick and six from other UK airports where the company operates.

Vueling has an average of 700 daily flights throughout its network with 60% of these connections operating from Barcelona, where the airline holds 42% of the market share.

For the coming months, the company offers 241 routes with connections to Spain and 154 of them with connections to other parts of the world.