Volaris overtook Aeroméxico to become Mexico’s leading airline in 2019, statistics show.

The low-cost airline transported 21.97 million passengers on domestic and international flights last year, while 21.8 million people flew with Aeroméxico, the nation’s flag carrier.

The number of passengers transported by Volaris is 19% higher than in 2018 and an all-time record, according to CEO Enrique Beltranena.

“We transported 22 million passengers in the year, that makes Volaris the largest Mexican airline by volume of passengers,” he said. “. . . No other Mexican airline has transported so many passengers in a year.”

Volaris took possession of new Airbus 320 and 321 neo planes in 2019, allowing the airline to increase the number of seats it put on sale by 230,000, or 16%, compared to the year before. It also began flying to more than 40 new destinations.

In contrast, Aeroméxico’s capacity was reduced because its Boeing 737 Max aircraft remained grounded due to safety concerns.

An analyst at Monex financial group said that a major factor in Volaris’ strong 2019 performance was that it operates more efficiently than its competitors.

“Volaris has a point-to-point business model, which allows it to keep its planes operating in 13.1-hour blocks . . .” Brian Rodríguez said.

While Volaris transported the highest number of passengers, its low-cost rival Viva Aerobus recorded the strongest growth in 2019. Just over 12 million people flew with Viva last year, a 20% increase over 2018 numbers.

The airline added eight new aircraft to its fleet and started flying 23 new routes.

“The enlargement of our fleet, capacity, sales and passengers set 2019 apart as a year of historic expansion for Viva,” said CEO Juan Carlos Zuazua.

The goal in 2020, he added, is to continue growing with the aim of transporting 14.5 million passengers.

Source: El Financiero (sp)