GUATEMALA. The Guatemalan airline TAG Airlines will invest around 64 million dollars to add four ATR72 aircraft to its fleet, in order to expand connectivity between the southeast of Mexico and Central America and respond to greater demand.
After the incorporation of the aircraft, TAG Airlines will add a total of 20 aircraft. “The planes with which we are currently flying to Mexico have 35 seats and the new ones have 72 seats, even maintaining the same frequencies we could double the seat capacity that we currently offer,” said Julio Gamero, director of the company.
In the first seven months of this year, the airline transported more than 300,000 passengers, which implies an increase of 169% over the previous year and the company expects to transport 400,000 passengers in the first year of use of the ATR72.
Another benefit that the incorporation of the four aircraft will bring is the increase in routes from the Mexican southeast to Guatemala and vice versa. According to the director, the demand for these destinations is increasing, while this region will be a business opportunity, thanks to the federal government targeting this region of the country to promote tourism through the Mayan Train project.
TAG Airlines is studying adding routes from Guatemala to Huatulco, Zihuatanejo and Acapulco, and will also seek to increase the frequency of flights it currently has in Cancun, Oaxaca and Tuxtla, Gutiérrez.
The airline company has flights from Oaxaca to Guatemala with a frequency of three times a week; while flights from Tuxtla Gutiérrez to Guatemala occur four times a week. Cancun already has daily routes and the company wants this destination in the future to allow it to connect with others in Central America such as El Salvador, Flores and Atitlán. These last two located in Guatemala.
The manager assured that TAG Airlines received an invitation from the federal government to open a route at the new Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA). The airline is still studying the economic viability of the proposal, but announced that the demand for frequencies will be key to making a decision.
