Volaris
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| Founded | 2005 | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | 2006 | ||||||
| Hubs | |||||||
| Focus cities | |||||||
| Fleet size | 35 | ||||||
| Destinations | 32 | ||||||
| Parent company | Vuela Compañia de Aviación | ||||||
| Headquarters | Mexico City, Mexico | ||||||
| Key people | |||||||
| Website | volaris.com.mx | ||||||
Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A. de C.V., operating as Volaris, is a Mexican low-cost airline and the country's second largest airline after Aeroméxico, thus being a leading competitor in the Mexican domestic market, with a market share of around 13-14% of domestic traffic.
Volaris' headquarters are located in Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City,[1] and its operational base is located at the Lic. Adolfo López Mateos International Airport (TLC) in Toluca.
History
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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), TACA and the Discovery Americas Fund. Each of these partners invested 25% of the initial cost of activities, or 100 million USD. On July 2010[2], it was announced that Televisa and Inbursa had sold their stake in Volaris leaving the ownership of Volaris as follows: TACA 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 sale started on January 12, 2006, and the first (non-commercial) flight was operated in February 2006, following the delivery of the airline's first aircraft. Scheduled revenue flights were launched on March 13, 2006, with the inaugural flight having been operated from Toluca to Tijuana. The airline has been received well on a number of areas including fares, fleet, service and on time service. However, if a flight is delayed for more than 30 minutes, passengers are given free, transferable tickets for use on any destination on their next purchase. If check-in lasts more than 10 minutes after passing the waiting line, passengers are given a discount coupon for their next purchase.
Initially, the airline avoided flying to Mexico City because of its congested and expensive airport. The airline took over several slots formerly owned by defunct Mexicana and its subsidiaries MexicanaClick and MexicanaLink, establishing service in September 2010.
On February 20, 2011, the airline celebrated its fifth anniversary.
On March it announced that its hub in Toluca will move to Guadalajara.
On February 12, 2012, it will end services to Cuernavanca on February 26.
US operations
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'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 de Aviacion's destination, Fresno Yosemite International Airport and would begin service on April 14, 2011. Fresno was Volaris' first US destination where they did not partner with Southwest Airlines. The airline began using Guadalajara International Airport as an American gateway hub in late 2011.
Volaris has 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 Feb. 3, and the U.S. Department of Transportation gave its approval on February 11. Volaris has not disclosed as of yet when it might begin service on the DFW-Mexico City route. The applications are of interest to Southwest Airlines because Volaris and Southwest began offering connections between their flights at 19 western cities in December. The new Volaris routes to and from Los Angeles International Airport, Sacramento International Airport, Oakland International Airport and San Jose International Airport will offer Southwest customers new places in Mexico that can be served through the Volaris alliance[3].
Volaris received approval to fly to San Diego International Airport on July 12.
Destinations
Volaris serves 24 domestic destinations and as well 7 international destinations.
Volaris currently has a codeshare agreement with:
Fleet
As of June 2011, the Volaris fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 4.3 years:[4]
| Type | In Service | Orders | Passengers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319 | ||||||
| Airbus A320-200 | ||||||
| A320neo[5] | TBA | |||||
| Total | 35 | 55 | ||||
Volaris selected the International Aero Engines V2500 engines for its Airbus fleet, similar to those selected by TACA.[citation needed]
Services
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Volaris has been received well on a number of areas including fares, fleet, service and on time service. For example, if a flight is delayed for more than 30 minutes, passengers are given free, transferable tickets for use on any destination on their next purchase. If queuing for check-in lasts more than 10 minutes, passengers are given a discount coupon for their next purchase.
Media
The Volaris safety video featured actress Claudia Lizaldi.[6]
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://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/07/19/344796/indigo-partners-buys-stake-in-mexicos-volaris.html
- ^ http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/02/volaris-get-us-approval-for-df.html
- ^ Volaris fleet list at planespotters.net
- ^ http://www.airbus.com/presscentre/pressreleases/press-release-detail/detail/volaris-signs-mou-for-44-a320-family-aircraft-including-30a320neo/
- ^ "Video de seguridad Volaris.mov." Volaris Official YouTube. Retrieved on November 4, 2010.
External links
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