Montpellier Is About to Get Much Busier in the Air

Volotea is putting down roots in the south of France. The airline is opening a base at Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport, its twelfth in France, which means aircraft and crews will be stationed there rather than flown in from elsewhere.

The first headline route is Montpellier to Málaga, starting in summer 2027. It will run twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays, and is expected to offer around 7,000 seats over the season. A twice-weekly Montpellier–Bari service is also planned, tying the Occitanie region to southern Italy.

Volotea expects the base to lift the airport’s overall offering. Montpellier is due to have 14 routes and roughly 420,000 seats on the airline in 2027, an increase of 22 percent on 2026. A base is typically a bigger commitment than a handful of seasonal routes, since it anchors an airline’s operation at the airport.

For travelers, more routes from Montpellier mean more choice for beach trips and city breaks without driving to larger airports. The Málaga and Bari flights are summer 2027 services and are not yet part of this winter’s schedule, so anyone interested should watch for when tickets go on sale and compare fares closer to the date.

Sources: Aviation Week