The Mexican carriers Aeromexico, Volaris, and Viva Aerobus, have had strong performances in 2022 in terms of carried passengers. The three airlines, leaders of the domestic and international market in Mexico, have already surpassed their pre-pandemic traffic levels and are growing. But can they reach 70 million travelers jointly before the year ends?
How many passengers Volaris had until November?
Let’s start this analysis by looking at Mexico’s top airline, Volaris. The carrier has outperformed everyone else in the last two years, bouncing back to profitability and rolling on a strategy that looks for first-time airplane travelers, luring them from the bus lines across Mexico.
In 2021, Volaris had 24 million passengers surpassing their previous 2019 record by a mile. This year has not been the exception, and the airline is already above 2021 final numbers, and there’s still a month to go.
Between January and November, Volaris had 28.102 million passengers, a 28.8% growth compared to 2021. Domestically, the airline recorded 22.70 million travelers and internationally 5.40 million. Looking forward, “demand remains resilient, and we are encouraged by our revenue management strategy. Forward bookings are solid, and we expect to maintain a strong load factor in the upcoming months,” said Enrique Beltranena, the company’s CEO.
Photo: Daniel Martínez Garbuno | Simple Flying.
How many passengers Aeromexico had until November?
During the pandemic, Grupo Aeromexico lost its status as Mexico’s top airline, falling into the third position in terms of domestic passengers. Nonetheless, it remained in the overall second position due to its solid international segment, surpassing Viva Aerobus.
This year, Aeromexico has carried 19.61 million passengers, a 32.4% growth compared to 2021 levels. Compared to 2019 traffic stats, Aeromexico had a 5.3% growth.
Moreover, in November 2022, Aeromexico informed that starting March 2023, it will commence operations to Rome, Italy (FCO), and Tokyo, Japan (NRT) from Mexico City with three and seven weekly frequencies, respectively.
Photo: Daniel Martínez Garbuno | Simple Flying.
How many passengers Viva Aerobus had until November?
Finally, let’s take a look at Viva Aerobus’ traffic numbers until November. The ultra-low-cost carrier has also had a strong performance in the last two years, fueling its growth with Interjet’s cease of operations and Aeromexico’s Chapter 11 process.
Between January and November 2022, Viva Aerobus carried 18.67 million passengers, a 37.3% growth compared to 2021 and a whopping 71.6% increase compared to 2019, prior to the pandemic.
Viva Aerobus’ CEO, Juan Carlos Zuazua, said, “demand remained strong in November, allowing us to maintain healthy load factors in a good yield environment.”
Photo: Viva Aerobus.
Can they reach the 70 million mark?
Overall, the three Mexican carriers had 66.3 million passengers until November 2022. The year has been strong, and the Mexican airline industry as a whole (including international carriers flying to Mexico) grew by 4% compared to pre-COVID levels, despite challenges such as the Category 2 degradation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Most importantly, December is a high season in Mexico; therefore, we can expect high load factors and rising traffic figures this month. The three airlines should have no problem in reaching the 70 million mark and surpassing it, maybe getting to 71 or 72 million travelers by the end of the year. We’ll see.
Have you traveled with any of these carriers this year? Let us know in the comments below.
