A new Mexican airline is set to begin flying before the end of next month, joining a sector that two established Mexican carriers recently exited due to financial problems.

Aerus, a Monterrey-based regional airline, says on its website that it will commence operations in the northeast of Mexico in the first quarter of 2023, “covering national routes and later international ones.”

The first routes that Aerus will fly will be announced “very soon,” according to the website.

The newspaper El Universal reported Friday that the airline’s first flights will be between Monterrey and destinations in Coahuila and Tamaulipas. It also said Aerus would fly to southern and central Texas in a “first stage” of operations.

Javier Herrera García, the airline’s CEO, told El Universal that Aerus will initially operate with three 19-seater Cessna SkyCourier planes.

The airline hopes to grow its fleet to 14 planes by 2025 and employ 500 people, he said.

Aerus, which was granted a commercial aviation permit last May, intends to invest US $98 million over the next three years to achieve its goals. The airline’s parent company, Grupo Herrera, also owns a San Luis Potosí-based air taxi service called Aerotransportes Rafilher.

The entry of Aerus into the Mexican aviation sector will come after Aeromar announced the “definitive suspension” of its operations earlier this month. Interjet, a larger low-cost carrier, stopped flying in late 2020 due to its own financial problems.

Aerus is currently seeking to fill a range of positions and will give preference to any former Aeromar employees who apply, according to a statement the airline posted to its Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.

With reports from El Universal