International Airlines Group (IAG) has announced plans for a new short-haul spin-off of its low-cost Level brand.

The carrier will be based at Vienna’s Terminal 1, with four A321 aircraft initially operating to 14 European destinations.

These will include London Gatwick, Barcelona, Palma, Paris CDG and Milan Malpensa. A full list of destinations and route frequencies can be seen below.

The first routes to Gatwick and Palma will take off on July 17, using A321 aircraft configured with 210 seats in an all-economy layout. Note the aircraft pictured is that used on Level’s current long-haul services.

The new subsidiary – which is trading under the name Anisec but which will be marketed under the Level brand – has obtained an Austrian Air Operator’s Certificate.

Lead-in fares will start from €24.99, and can be purchased from the existing Level website at flylevel.com.

Customers will be entitled to one piece of hand luggage free of charge, with checked luggage, and food / drink charged as extras.

The move follows IAG’s unsuccessful attempt to purchase the Austrian airline Niki from the defunct Air Berlin.

Ryanair ended up buying 24.9 per cent of the new carrier Laudamotion, with plans to increase this to increase this to 75 per cent.

It is understood that IAG will be using A321 aircraft sourced from the former Air Berlin to operate the new services.

Commenting on the news Willie Walsh, IAG chief executive, said:

“We are launching this new short-haul subsidiary to provide Austrian consumers with more flight choices across Europe. These flights will be branded as Level to build upon the huge success of our new long haul low-cost operation.

“We will serve the Austrian market with low-cost, reliable flights and will initially create around 200 new jobs at our Vienna base.”

It’s not clear whether through baggage checking will be available to / from Level’s long-haul routes from Barcelona. The carrier is set to launch flights from Paris to North American and Caribbean destinations from July, although these will depart from Orly rather than CDG.

Level launched long-haul services from Barcelona in June 2017, and Walsh has previously said that the carrier could launch similar flights from regional UK airports – but only if the government abolished Air Passenger Duty.

flylevel.com

Details of Level’s new short-haul services from Vienna:

  • seven flights per week to Palma launching July 17
  • 14 flights per week to Gatwick launching July 17
  • seven flights per week to Barcelona launching July 23
  • three flights per week to Malaga launching July 30
  • seven flights per week to Venice launching July 31
  • three flights per week to Olbia (Sardinia) launching July 31
  • three flights per week to Ibiza launching August 7
  • 13 flights per week to Paris CDG launching August 11
  • 13 flights per week to Milan Malpensa launching August 11
  • four flights per week to Dubrovnik launching August 11
  • three flights per week to Larnaca launching August 11
  • two flights per week to Alicante launching August 11
  • two flights per week to Valencia launching August 12
  • three flights per week to Bilbao launching August 13