Interjet’s indefinite cessation of operations left a booty of more than 50,000 takeoff and landing times – known as slots – at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM), which have begun to be distributed among its main competitors. Volaris and Aeroméxico have been the main beneficiaries, while it will be difficult for the airline to recover those assets.
In summer 2019, Interjet had 52,467 slots registered with the AICM, which by 2020 were reduced to 51,580, without using all of them due to its financial crisis. For this year, the airline has no assigned schedule, while Volaris has 30,600 registered slots (53% more than in 2019). Aeromexico remains the airline with the largest presence at the airport with more than 114,000 slots , an increase of 9% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Another airline that has gained a presence at the capital airport has been Aeromar, whose slots increased by 22% in the last two years. Similarly, Viva Aerobus had a 15% increase in assigned slots , reaching almost 18,000 hours for the summer season, which for the purposes of the AICM itineraries, includes from March 21 to October 30.
In terms of slots , Interjet’s presence at the AICM was superior to the schedules of Volaris, Viva Aerobus and Aeromar combined. But with the reassignment of slots and the cessation of Interjet operations, the three airlines now concentrate 19% more hours than Interjet had before the pandemic, according to airport data.
For Brian Rodríguez, an analyst at Monex Casa de Bolsa, the increase in slots by Aeroméxico and by airlines in the low-cost segment responds to the Interjet strike, but also to a strategy of its competitors in the domestic and international market.
“Aeroméxico’s strategy has been one of hub and spoke , having the AICM as its starting point, with secondary hubs in Monterrey and Guadalajara. Here [in Mexico City] it has most of its operations, and it is also an important point for the demand with the United States, ”he explains.
Volaris and Viva Aerobus have capitalized on the increase in slots with new destinations from Mexico City, in addition to an increase in frequencies that they have been able to afford through an increase in the fleet in recent months.
Recover the
slots
, a difficult task
Under regular conditions, an airline must operate 80% of the allocated slots to be able to maintain them the following season, but airports around the world temporarily suspended this rule due to the pandemic, including the AICM.
However, as operations are reactivated, the return of this rule looks closer and closer, or at least part of it. An example of this is the request of the World Airport Slots Board, which has urged governments to establish a rule of minimum use of 50% of the slots for the winter season, arguing a high prevailing instability of travel .
In this scenario, Interjet will hardly be able to maintain the slots it had assigned before the pandemic, since the crisis it is going through has kept it without flying since December 11, 2020, and to date it does not have teams or active sales channels that suggest a soon return.
“Should Interjet start to come back, it will do so well below what it had before the pandemic. At this point, it does not have a competitive fleet in the market, even Viva would be ahead with a younger, larger fleet and generating synergies on international routes. In the short term, having news from Interjet about its bankruptcy would be an important key for the return of slots ”, concludes Rodríguez.
