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  Volaris

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  Y4/VOI

  Airline Type:

  Ultra-Low-Cost Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Guadalajara International Airport, Mexico City International Airport, Tijuana International Airport

  Year Founded:

  2005

  CEO:

  Enrique Beltranena

  Country:

  Mexico

The Mexican ultra-low-cost carrier Volaris is adding new routes from Mexico City’s alternative airports, the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (NLU) and the Toluca International Airport (TLC). Volaris will also reduce the number of frequencies of selected routes at Mexico City Benito Juárez International (MEX).

New routes

On Tuesday, Volaris announced it will launch 16 new routes from NLU and TLC. In a statement, the airline said it is looking to increase its capacity in Mexico City while helping ease the saturation at MEX and contributing to its safety. A few weeks ago, two Volaris jetliners had an incident at MEX. They nearly crashed following an Air Traffic Control mistake.

Volaris will launch ten additional routes from NLU. The airline will fly to Acapulco, Guadalajara, Huatulco, La Paz, Mérida, Mexicali, Oaxaca, Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Escondido, and Los Cabos. They are all domestic routes. The flights to Mérida, Acapulco, Huatulco, and Mexicali will begin on August 15 and 16, while the remaining six will start on September 15 and 16.

Additionally, Volaris will restart six routes from TLC. The airline will fly to Tijuana, Puerto Vallarta, Cancún, Guadalajara, Los Cabos, and Huatulco. These routes will be launched on July 1, and they will all have daily frequencies, except Huatulco (four weekly flights).

A further look at Volaris’ schedule

This is what Volaris’ service from NLU and TLC will look like:

Fewer frequencies

Volaris is launching these routes after meeting with the Mexican government. Both TLC and NLU will offer lower costs, allowing for lower fares. According to Volaris’ CEO, Enrique Beltranena, operating from NLU will be around 40% cheaper than operating from MEX.

By launching these routes, Volaris will also reduce the number of frequencies from Mexico City Benito Juárez International. While it will not cancel routes from Mexico City’s main airport, Volaris will reduce its capacity by 10% in August and 10% in September. The airline will remove around 140 weekly flights from MEX.

The latest changes within Mexico City’s metropolitan airports

Mexico City now has three airports with scheduled commercial flights. Volaris and Viva Aerobus have announced the launch of flights from the three hubs, while Aeromexico will only operate from NLU and MEX, at the moment.

Earlier this month, Viva Aerobus announced the launch of five new routes from the Felipe Ángeles International Airport and will reestablish two routes and launch two new ones from Toluca International.

Viva Aerobus will fly to Acapulco, Cancún, Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, and Havana (Cuba) from NLU, and to Cancún, Monterrey, Mérida, and Puerto Vallarta from TLC. You can read more about these new routes here and here.

Aeromexico has also announced new routes from NLU. The airline will increase the seats available from this new airport by 400%. Starting on August 15, it will operate flights to Acapulco, Cancún, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Oaxaca, and Veracruz (September) and keep on flying to Mérida, Puerto Vallarta, and Villahermosa.

Once these three carriers launch all their new routes from NLU, Mexico’s new airport will have around 400 weekly operations. Nonetheless, it has failed to attract new airlines, either domestic operators (Aeromar, TAR Aerolíneas, Magnicharters, etc.) or international companies.

Toluca will have ten new routes for the first time in years. Over the last few years, Toluca has been mainly used by cargo and private aviation.

What do you think about Volaris’ new routes? Would you be interested in flying from NLU or TLC? Let us know in the comments below.