History of Air Europa

1986. The company is formed under the name Air Europa. First flight between Tenerife and London.

1991. A group of Spanish investors headed by Juan José Hidalgo purchases the company.

1993. Air Europa operates regular domestic flights, breaking Iberia's monopoly in Spain.

1994. The Madrid-Barcelona route is established to challenge Iberia on one of its most profitable routes.

1995. Air Europa opens up to the international flights market with routes to London and New York.

1996. Air Europa maintains more than 750 regular weekly flights and establishes new routes: Paris, Varadero (Cuba), Salvador de Bahia (Brazil), Asturias, Bilbao and Vigo.

1999. Air Europa incorporates the first six Boeing 737 Next Generation.

2000. Air Europa incorporates the first Boeing 767-300 for its transoceanic routes. It opens its first codeshare flights with the Alitalia from MAD and BCN to 11 national destinations.

2003. Air Europa consolidates its agreements and alliances with companies such as Aeropostal, Air France, Air Luxor, Alitalia, Continental Airlines, KLM, Malev, Southern Winds and Tunisair.

2004. Air Europa opens direct flights to Quito, Guayaquil, Prague and Warsaw.

2005. Air Europa becomes the first Spanish airline to fly directly to China.

2007. Air Europa opens two new transoceanic routes: Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. On 1 September, the company officially joins the SkyTeam alliance.

2008. It becomes the world's first airline to participate in the AIRE Oceanic Program, an initiative promoting respect for the environment, with the aim of reducing harmful gas emissions on transoceanic flights. 

2009. Air Europa continues to add new routes to its portfolio with Lisbon, London, Venice, New York and Miami. It participates in the second phase of the AIRE Oceanic Program, an initiative promoting respect for the environment.

2010. Air Europa establishes a non-stop route between Madrid and Lima. In July, it became a full member of SkyTeam.

2012. Air Europa receives two quality awards: EMAS for environmental management and the Madrid Excelente rating. It formalises the purchases of the eight Boeing 787 for incorporation into the fleet starting in 2016.

2013. Air Europa opens new routes to Coruña and Montevideo and also starts the Madrid-Sao Paulo route.

2014. It opens its Madrid-Frankfurt and Madrid-Munich routes, both with two daily flights. In May, it begins regular flights between Madrid and San Juan de Puerto Rico, and in June it opens the Madrid-Miami route, with an extension between Miami and Punta Cana. At the end of the year, Porto and Ouarzazate, in southern Morocco, join the airline's network of destinations.

2015. Air Europa announces a new order of fourteen Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, which join the eight B787-8s already purchased by the airline. It begins flights from Madrid to Tel Aviv and Asunción, as well as daily flights to Miami with a Boeing 787 on lease from LOT. It also begins its modernisation plan with the presentation of its new image and the new loyalty program, Air Europa SUMA. It becomes the first Spanish airline to provide its entire fleet with defibrillators. The company reaches new codeshare agreements with Korean Air, Avianca Brasil, Seaborne and Air Serbia and starts flights between the Balearic Islands. Air Europa Express starts operations

2016. Air Europa becomes the first Spanish airline to incorporate a 787 Dreamliner into its fleet.  At the end of the year, it opens new routes to Zurich, Bogotá, Guayaquil and Córdoba.

2017. Air Europa opens its new route to San Pedro Sula and becomes the first European airline to offer a direct connection between Honduras and Spain. It opens inter-island flights between the Canary Islands and routes to Recife (Brazil) and Marrakesh.

2018. Atmosfair, the German environmental organisation that annually classifies the 200 largest airlines in the world according to their climatic efficiency; rates Air Europa as the most efficient European airline network. In the Atmosfair ranking, Air Europa is also ranked third among all the world's network airlines, which demonstrates the airline's firm environmental commitment. For its part, Air Europa Express takes second place in the ranking of the most efficient regional companies in the world and first place in Europe.

Air Europa opens routes to Quito, Düsseldorf, Venice and Eilat. Starting at the end of the year, it launches an air-freight service through its new unit Air Europa Cargo.

2019. Air Europa becomes the first international company to obtain a licence to operate domestic flights in Brazil. Air Europa and Air France-KLM sign a joint venture agreement for flights between Europe and Central and South America. This agreement allows it to expand its offer and improve the travel opportunities of its respective customers.  It leads the biometric boarding pilot project at Mahón Airport (Menorca). It opens new routes to Panama, Medellín, Iguazú, Casablanca and Tunisia.

2020. Air Europa operates its longest passenger commercial flight in the company's history: from Los Angeles to Bali, flying over the Pacific from west to east and travelling more than 7,600 nautical miles in less than 17 hours, forming part of repatriation and cargo loading operations.

2021. Air Europa, the first airline in the world to integrate the Amadeus digital health verification, allowing passengers to certify their health documentation when checking in, without having to leave the airline's website or app.

2022. Air Europa and TravelX launch the first air ticket in NFT format.

2023. Air Europa implements Amadeus Travel Ready by Traveler ID. Air Europa passengers can digitally verify their passports, updating their passenger status automatically in the airline's system with the "SKYCLEARED" tag, saving time by speeding up manual checks on documents check-in, baggage delivery and boarding processes, resulting in a reduction in queues.

iryo and Air Europa sign a multimodal transport agreement whereby travellers can purchase a combined plane + train ticket in a single transaction. This new product will allow travellers to purchase combined train and aeroplane tickets on the Air Europa website or at authorised travel agencies.

2024. Air Europa launches new routes to emerging tourist destinations in Asia (Kuwait) and Africa (Nairobi), expanding its flight offer and consolidating its position as a leading airline connecting Europe with the rest of the world.