Acapulco Guerrero. Volaris will open 10 new routes at Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) and will resume operations at Toluca International Airport (AIT) with six new routes, offering more than 1 million seats in the capital in conjunction with the Airport Mexico City International (AICM).
Starting in July, Volaris will open new routes from AIFA to Acapulco, Guadalajara, Huatulco, La Paz, Mérida, Mexicali, Oaxaca, Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Escondido and Los Cabos, while from Toluca it will fly to Tijuana, Puerto Vallarta, Cancún, Guadalajara, Los Cabos and Huatulco.
“The traffic in the metropolitan area of the Valley of Mexico needed to be fed from different airports and points. The metropolitan area represents a potential market of 30 million passengers, who, thanks to a planned redistribution of the airport system in the three airports that make it up, will have access to closer airports and with a greater range of destinations,” said Enrique Beltranena, president and CEO of Volaris.
However, the airline will reduce approximately 10% of its capacity in the AICM from August 15 and another 10% from September 15.
The director clarified that this is not a migration of routes. “They do not move, new routes are generated and capacity in the AICM is reduced. We are not removing routes from the AICM under any circumstances (…) Frequencies are reduced, number of operations in that 10%. About 140 weekly flights are reduced,” he added.
Volaris’ announcement comes a couple of weeks after the Federal Government agreed with the air sector on more flights to go from 12 to more than 100 operations at AIFA, which has also led to an increase in Aeroméxico flights at AIFA , which will add nine more routes in the following months, and Viva Aerobus, which will add five new destinations from the new airport.
Beltranena explained that costs were negotiated with both the AIFA and the Toluca Airport to promote the opening of the new routes.
“We have some tariffs that they have determined, that are going to make us work. In the case of the AIFA it is approximately 40% lower than the Mexico City Airport, and in the case of the Toluca Airport it is a little more,” he said.
“My commitment is to make this company financially viable. We’re not going to fly anything that doesn’t make money, we have to make this new capability work.”
The redesign of the airspace
Regarding the area of air safety, which has been in the spotlight due to recent incidents, including Volaris operations, Beltranena was convinced that the operation of the new routes in conjunction with the AICM will be safe.
“Yes, air safety is fundamental to our objectives. It is the most important pillar of our company, that is why we firmly believe that we can make this route system viable”, emphasized the manager.
The increase in routes occurred after the Volaris incident, in which two aircraft had an approach incident at the AICM, and after a warning from the International Federation of Aviation Pilots Associations (IFALPA) about the risk in the metropolitan area Valley of Mexico with the entry into operations of the AIFA.
“I know we are at a turning point. The analysis that I am telling you about became an opportunity that is viable and profitable for Volaris, we have a point-to-point model that allows this decentralization of airports over the metropolitan valley.”
A new route to Los Angeles subject to regaining Category 1
Regarding the opening of international routes in the AIFA, the director explained that they value more connections to the United States in addition to a route to Los Angeles, which is expected to start in December. However, the flight is subject to Mexico being returned to Category 1 air safety by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which downgraded the country to Category 2 a year ago.
“One of the most important things we have to do, because we have to continue developing Mexico, is (recover) that Category 1. It is a truly important job for aviation,” he concluded.
