Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris is flying to Colombia, starting on October 6. With two new routes, Volaris becomes the latest player in a contested Mexico-Colombia aviation market that is set to become one of the fastest growing following the COVID-19 pandemic. Let’s investigate further.
All about Volaris’ new routes
Earlier this year, Volaris received approval from the Colombian authorities to launch direct flights to Bogota. Along with Viva Aerobus, it is one of the new Mexican carriers set to enter the market.
Viva Aerobus will launch its Mexico City-Bogota route on August 21, with two weekly frequencies. Then, on September 15, Viva will increase to daily flights.
Meanwhile, Volaris will start flying two routes on October 6. These segments will be Mexico City-Bogota and Cancun-Bogota. Volaris will operate four weekly flights for the first one and three weekly frequencies for the latter.
The Mexico City-Bogota route will depart on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Meanwhile, the Cancun-Bogota will operate on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays said Volaris in a statement.
The company will start selling the tickets for these routes on June 23.
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The Mexico-Colombia aviation market highlights
During the last year, the Mexico-Colombia market has become one of the highlights in South America. Both Volaris and Viva Aerobus will launch routes between both countries; also, Colombian low-cost carrier Viva has just started flights on two of its four routes between these two nations.
According to Cirium’s database, there will be four airlines operating flights between Mexico and Colombia in July. These are Aeromexico, Avianca, Wingo, and Viva. They will offer 449 flights, with 75,214 seats available.
Flavia Santoro, ProColombia president, said in a statement,
“The arrival of Volaris is proof of the international trust set on Colombia. It also strengthens the commercial relationship with Mexico, which is now our third destination by the number of air frequencies and seats available.”
Despite the recovery of this market, there’s still a long way to go before getting to the pre-pandemic levels. Cirium states that there are 54% fewer flights right now than two years ago. Additionally, the market has lost a player with the exit of Interjet. This carrier operated flights to Medellin, Bogota, and Cartagena de Indias.
Volaris’ growth for the following months
Volaris is one of the most successful airlines amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The carrier has recovered 100% of its domestic traffic, and it is close to doing the same in the international segment. Volaris currently has 184 active routes (108 domestic and 76 international) and has carried nearly 18 million people since the start of the pandemic.
Nevertheless, following Mexico’s air safety rating downgrade to Category 2, Volaris had to readjust its plans going forward.
Volaris won’t be able to increase its presence in the US while Mexico remains in Category 2. Therefore, the Mexican low-cost carrier will strengthen its domestic market share, it said in a statement. Volaris will also deploy new capacity to the international markets it serves or plans to do, like Colombia.
In the meantime, Volaris hopes the Mexican government will quickly restore its air safety rating with the Federal Aviation Administration. The longer it takes, the hardest the hit will be on Mexican airlines, as they can’t add routes or capacity to the US.
Are you eager to try Volaris’ new routes from Mexico and Cancun to Bogota? Let us know in the comments.
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