“We are going to reach June operating 12 international routes directly. Before the pandemic – in March 2020 – we operated three international routes, it is a fourfold growth in the international segment”, he tells Expansion Felix Antelo, CEO of Viva Air. “Where we have grown the most is in Mexico in this plan, it is the first country for Viva in terms of traffic.”
Viva Air started operations in Mexico in June 2021, as part of a growth in the air sector between the country and Colombia, which coincided with the suspension of operations by Interjet – which accounted for almost half of the market – and new expansion plans by other companies. airlines such as Volaris and Viva Aerobus between both countries.
Antelo considers that the growth of this market responds to the lack of an offer from the airline segment low costwhich has also led to a decrease in prices, he says.
“Before the pandemic there was no low-cost offer. Interjet was not a low-cost company as such, they were routes with a very high average fare, 30% to 40% more expensive”, considers the manager.
In the medium term, Viva Air seeks to continue growing in the operation of international routes, with an emphasis on its hub in Medellin, through which it connects to other South American countries, and to destinations in Mexico and the United States.
“By the end of 2023 we would be above 20 international routes, because we see that passenger demand is there. The arrival of more planes strengthens this strategy”.
Among all its routes, the airline plans to transport 10 million passengers in 2022, a growth of 67% compared to 2021 traffic, of six million users. This with an occupancy factor of 88% to 88.5%.
Although the airline is still evaluating adding some more routes with Mexico, it expects that by the end of 2023 connections with the country will account for a third of its international operations. However, his analysis at the moment does not include flying at the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), which began operations this week.
“We still have to understand how that airport is going to evolve, I think it is an airport where Mexican competitors have to enter first, develop it, and then we would see it as a possibility. But it is not something that we think about for the short or medium term, if I am honest with you,” Antelo concluded.