Volaris Announces Participation on AIFA

Months of uncertainty regarding Mexican airlines’ participation on President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s new infrastructure project and major aerospace bet, the Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA), concluded with Volaris stating that it will be opening daily flights to Tijuana and Cancun on March 2022.

Volaris became the first Mexican airline to confirm its participation on the new airport. However, the ultra-low-cost airline will continue to operate normally in the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) regardless of its expansion into AIFA.

The airline performed extensive research that focused on analyzing the existing progress of construction, certification processes, takeoff, approaches, development of land access roads, efforts in tariffs and aeronautical and operational safety, reports A21. Volaris concluded that the operation of daily flights from AIFA is viable and it looks set to enter the airport’s operations as soon as the project becomes operational in March 2022.

Volaris currently holds 42 percent of the national market and registered nearly 10.2 million passengers during 1H21, as reported by MBN. Enrique Beltranena, General Director at Volaris, told A21 that the airline is set to transport 25 million passengers annually. Also, Beltrarena indicated that the airline has identified a major market in the immediate areas of the new airport with a population of 4.8 million people that could potentially be engaged in the airline’s daily routes.

Beltrarena also highlighted in a video call with investors that, “We believe that Santa Lucia itself has a market in the surroundings of Santa Lucia, which has a similar size, for example, to Aguascalientes or Queretaro, we do see some virtues in the population that is around the airport.” He further stated that the airline can create a successful business with that specific population. While Beltrarena said that the success of the airline will rely on its low-cost strategy, he added that lowering the airport’s tariffs will be of major importance to develop a real market in the area.

Volaris recently completed a certification process in El Salvador by the Civil Aviation Authority (AAC) according to a recent press release. The airline is set to replicate the same low-cost operations in the country, with the new San Salvador-Mexico City and San Salvador-Cancun routes.