Volaris
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| Founded | 2004 | |||
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| Commenced operations | 2005 | |||
| Hubs |
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| Focus cities |
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| Frequent-flyer program | VClub | |||
| Fleet size | 51 | |||
| Destinations | 47 | |||
| Company slogan | Vive Viajando | |||
| Parent company | Vuela Compañia de Aviación | |||
| Headquarters | Mexico City, Mexico | |||
| Key people |
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| Website | www.volaris.com | |||
Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A. de C.V., operating as Volaris, is a Mexican low-cost airline based in Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City[1] and its operational base is located at the General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport (TIJ) in Tijuana.
The airline operates scheduled flights to Mexico (33) and elsewhere in North America (14) from Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City, Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla International Airport, in Guadalajara, General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport in Tijuana and General Mariano Escobedo International Airport in Monterrey.
Volaris is the country's second largest airline after Aeroméxico. It is a leading competitor in the Mexican domestic airline market, with a market share of around 15% of domestic traffic.[2]
History
The pre-operations phase (founding of the legal entities and setting up of the required infrastructure) started in August 2005 under the name Vuela Airlines. Major initial shareholders of the company were Grupo Televisa (the world's biggest Spanish-language media conglomerate), Inbursa (an insurance company owned by billionaire Carlos Slim), Avianca (then TACA Airlines) and the Discovery Americas Fund. Each of these partners invested 25% of the initial cost of activities, or 100 million USD. On July 2010,[3] it was announced that Televisa and Inbursa had sold their stake in Volaris leaving the ownership of Volaris as follows: Avianca (then TACA Airlines) with Roberto and Maria Cristina Kriete (50%), Investment fund Discovery Americas (over 25%) and Indigo Partners: Fund led by former America West CEO B. Franke. Ticket sales started on January 12, 2006, and, following the delivery of the airline's first aircraft, the first (non-commercial) flight was operated in February 2006. Scheduled revenue flights were launched on March 13, 2006, with the inaugural flight having been operated from Toluca to Tijuana.
Initially, the airline avoided flying to Mexico City because of its congested and expensive airport. The airline took over several slots that had been owned by now-defunct Mexicana and its subsidiaries MexicanaClick and MexicanaLink, establishing service in September 2010.
In March, 2011, it announced that its hub in Toluca would move to Guadalajara.
On June 5, 2012, the airline launched a frequent flyer program called VClub.[4]
On June 6, 2012, PayPal became a payment alternative for the airline, enabling customers to purchase tickets directly from the airline's website.[5]
On September 17, 2012, Volaris announced a codeshare partnership with a German airline, Condor. Passengers of Condor are able to fly to more international destinations.[6]
Volaris started service from Mexico City to Mérida and Tuxtla Gutiérrez from in February 2013.
On March 13, 2013, the airline celebrated its seventh anniversary, offering passengers 70% off all flights, it has done this every year since then.[7]
International operations
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In November 2008, Volaris announced a codeshare agreement with US-based low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines.
In April 2009, Volaris announced the start of US-bound flights out of Toluca and Guadalajara (initially to Los Angeles and Oakland) to feed into the hubs of Southwest Airlines. Later on, US-flights were also offered from Zacatecas and Morelia, with Monterrey-Los Angeles (with Fresno Yosemite International Airport) in planning.
On December 13, 2010, Volaris started services between Chicago Midway International Airport and Guadalajara. It is Volaris' fourth international destination, first international service to a secondary airport and the longest route of Volaris' history. After Mexicana de Aviación's shutdown, Volaris took over many of Mexicana's international destinations and flights from its focus city, Guadalajara.
On February 25, 2011, it was announced that Volaris would acquire Mexicana's destination Fresno Yosemite International Airport and would begin service on April 14, 2011. Fresno was Volaris' first US destination where it did not partner with Southwest Airlines. The airline began using Guadalajara International Airport as an American gateway hub in late 2011.
Volaris received permission to fly between Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Mexico City, along with a number of other U.S.-Mexico routes. Volaris sought the permission on February 3, and the U.S. Department of Transportation gave its approval on February 11, 2011.[8] Volaris will not launch service to DFW until April 29, 2015, when it begins flights between DFW and Guadalajara.[9]
Volaris received approval to fly to San Diego International Airport on July 12, 2012.
Volaris began non-stop flight between Orlando and Guadalajara from July 14, 2012.[10]
Volaris started service to Sacramento and Guadalajara on November 15, 2012.
Volaris began flights between Denver and Mexico City on December 8, 2012.
Volaris and Southwest stopped codesharing on February 22, 2013. Southwest decided to focus more on the Mexican market with AirTran Airways, instead of codesharing with Volaris.[11][12]
Volaris began flights between Phoenix and Guadalajara on October 19, 2013.
Volaris began its first destination in Texas, San Antonio International Airport from Guadalajara on December 14, 2013.[13]
Volaris began non-stop flights between Chicago-O'Hare and Mexico City on December 17, 2013.[14]
Volaris began flights between Ontario and Guadalajara on April 12, 2014.[15]
Volaris applied to fly Mexicana's former Portland and Guadalajara Non-Stop flight. The service to Portland began on October 6, 2014.[16]
Volaris began its second destination in Florida, Fort Lauderdale International Airport from Mexico City on December 1, 2014 and from Guadalajara on December 4, 2014.[17]
Volaris began non-stop flights between Reno/Tahoe and Guadalajara on December 16, 2014.[18]
Volaris planned to launch service to Houston Hobby Airport as soon as the new terminal was completed.[19] But the airline chose to begin flying Houston-Intercontinental from Guadalajara on March 26, 2015, instead.[20]
Volaris plans to start New York-JFK from Guadalajara starting July 15, 2015.[21]
Destinations
Volaris serves 35 domestic destinations and 15 international destinations (currently all in USA).
Codeshare agreements
Past
- Taca Airlines
Fleet
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As of April 2015, the Volaris fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 4.4 years:[23]
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-100 | 18 | — | 144 | Short / Medium haul Mexico and United States |
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| Airbus A320-200 | 33 | 22 | 174 | Short / Medium haul Mexico and United States |
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| Airbus A320neo | — | 30 | TBA | TBA | Deliveries begin in 2016 |
| Airbus A321neo | — | 20 | TBA | 1 | Deliveries begin in 2017 |
| Total | 51 | 73 |
| Year End | Airbus A319 | Airbus A320/A321 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 19 | 31 | 50 |
| 2015 | 17 | 35 | 52 |
| 2016 | 15 | 42 | 57 |
Media
The former Volaris safety video featured actress Claudia Lizaldi.[25] The current Volaris safety video features young children demonstrating the safety procedures.[26] Both of the videos are enabled with English language subtitles.
References
- ↑ "Contáctanos." Volaris. Retrieved on December 4, 2010. "Dirección de oficinas Volaris - Prolongación Paseo de la Reforma 490 piso 1 Col. Santa Fe Peña Blanca México DF, Delegación Álvaro Obregón C.P. 01210"
- ↑ http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/aeromexico-and-volaris-increase-international-spread-to-strengthen-yields-and-vivaaerobus-follows-188595
- ↑ "Indigo Partners buys stake in Mexico's Volaris". Flightglobal.com. 2010-07-19. Retrieved 2013-05-12.
- ↑ "Sala de prensa". volaris.mx. Retrieved 2013-05-12.
- ↑ "Media Center". volaris.mx. Retrieved 2013-05-12.
- ↑ "Press Release - Condor and the Mexican airline Volaris enter into partnership" (PDF). 17 September 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
- ↑ http://slickdeals.net/f/5905520-volaris-70-off-airfare-to-mexico-today-only
- ↑ http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2011/02/volaris-get-us-approval-for-df.html/
- ↑ http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2014/12/volaris-wants-to-fly-dfw-guadalajara-route-too.html/
- ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2012/06/19/y4-mexmco-jul12/
- ↑
- ↑ "Southwest and Volaris to end partnership - 2/7/2013". Flight Global. 2013-02-07. Retrieved 2014-02-10.
- ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2013/10/29/y4-gdlsat-dec13/
- ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2013/11/12/y4-phxord-dec13/
- ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2013/12/12/y4-gdlont-s14/
- ↑ http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/budget-north-south-american-airlines/1572044-volaris-applies-pdx-gdl-service.html
- ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2014/10/15/y4-fll-dec14/
- ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2014/10/02/y4-gdlrno-dec14/
- ↑ http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/houston-airport-operator-envisions-hobby-offering-international-flights-in-12-markets-71625
- ↑ http://airlineroute.net/2014/12/24/y4-gdliah-s15/
- ↑ http://finance.yahoo.com/news/volaris-now-arriving-york-114500908.html;_ylt=AwrBJR7cmhVVT3kA8KLQtDMD
- ↑ https://www.condor.com/us/fileadmin/dam/pdf/tcf-us/06_The_Company/02_Press/Volaris_engl.pdf
- ↑ 07 August 2014. "Volaris Fleet in Planespotters.net". planespotters.net. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
- ↑ "05/07/14 Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2014 Transportation Conference (pg 18)".
- ↑ "Video de seguridad Volaris.mov." Volaris Official YouTube. Retrieved on November 4, 2010.
- ↑ "Video de seguridad Volaris con niños". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-05-12.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Volaris. |
- Volaris Official website
- Terraris website
- Official website (Spanish)
- V de Volaris in-flight magazine (Spanish)
- Terraris website (Spanish)
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