Mexican low-cost carrier (LCC) VivaAerobus has become the newest sponsor of the Las Vegas Raiders. The partnership, besides an exciting new livery for one of the VivaAerobus' Airbus A320s, also implies the strengthening of the airline's presence in the US.

A new sponsor for Las Vegas Raiders

On August 8th, the Mexican low-cost carrier VivaAerobus became the newest addition to the Las Vegas Raiders' sponsors. Consequently, the airline is now the official carrier of the football team in Mexico.

The sponsorship entails some interesting aspects for aviation enthusiasts; indeed, the airline has unveiled a special livery featuring the team's logo for one of its 37 A320s currently in the fleet. The Raiders are already familiar with such a move.

The A320 will operate more than 2,000 flights a year across the airline's network of 58 destinations across North, Central, and South America.

Besides the special livery, VivaAerobus has announced a new communication campaign across its social media channels; the campaign will be active, in that it allows VivaAerobus' customers and followers to win exclusive tours of the Allegiant Stadium, the Raiders' home stadium, which has been named one of the best stadiums in the US, as well as tickets to go and watch Raiders' matches.

VivaAerobus and the Las Vegas Raiders

For the occasion, Juan Carlos Zuazua, CEO of VivaAerobus, stressed the similarities between the airline and the football team upon which the sponsorship has been built, stating:

“We are very excited to be the official Mexican airline of the Raiders, a team that, like us, is guided by discipline, perseverance, camaraderie and passion for what we do".

Moreover, being VivaAerobus a low-cost carrier, its traffic is predominantly leisure, which includes people traveling to support their favorite teams in other countries. Zuazua also affirmed how both VivaAerobus and the Raiders aim to convey a positive message through this sponsorship based on healthy recreation, sports, and the values associated with them. Additionally, the carrier's CEO hopes the partnership with the Raiders will help the airline reach its goal of positioning its brand as one of the most entertaining airlines in the Americas by increasing connectivity to one of the world's entertainment capitals, as Zuazua referred to Las Vegas.

On the other hand, Sandra Douglass Morgans, the president of the Raiders, stated that this partnership is going to be beneficial to growing the team's fanbase in Mexico, where the Raiders already enjoy huge support.

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VivaAerobus in the US

According to OAG, VivaAerobus currently offers two routes to/from Las Vegas, where the carrier will deploy a total capacity of 233,568 seats by the end of 2022. From Mexico City (MEX), the carrier flies daily to Las Vegas, whereas four weekly frequencies are operated by the airline's base, Monterrey (MTY).

VivaAerobus capacity in Las Vegas has been very unstable over the last ten years, as the following graph illustrates. However, since 2017, the airline has been deploying increasingly more capacity, with 2022 registering a 76% capacity increase compared to 2012. The airline's strengthening in Las Vegas aligns with Mexico being the third-busiest air market for the city, after the US and Canada, with 404,008 passengers flying to/from Mexico between January and June 2022. The capacity increase makes Las Vegas the second-busiest route in the US for VivaAerobus, after Chicago and before New York.

According to Sabre, in 2019 VivaAerobus controlled 25% of the market between Mexico City and Las Vegas, with the strongest competitor being the Mexican flagship carrier Aeromexico (32% market share); the Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris ranked third, with a market share of 22%. In Monterrey, VivaAerobus' strongest competitor was another Mexican LCC, Interjet, which captured 61% of the Las Vegas-bound demand. However, Interjet ceased operations in 2020. Consequently, in the first two quarters of 2022, VivaAerobus dominated the market between Monterrey and Las Vegas, with a market share of 95%, the sole other carrier operating the route being the American LCC Frontier. From Mexico City, VivaAerobus still faces strong competition from Aeromexico, which increased its market share to 42%; VivaAerobus places second, with a 30% market share, closely followed by Volaris (28% market share).

Simple Flying reached out to VivaAerobus for further comment. We will update the article with any additional announcements from the airline.

Do you think this new sponsorship will support VivaAerobus to expand in the US? Let us know in the comment below!