3. More planes, but not to the US
Between the first quarter of 2021 –before the FAA audit– and the same period this year, Mexican airlines have added at least 99 new aircraft, which due to the loss to Category 1 cannot fly to the United States.
The increase in the fleet has been useful to attack the market that was left unattended with the departure of Interjet in Mexico, and other markets such as Colombia; however, it has not been possible to include new equipment in the US market, which has also left operations less efficient in terms of fuel use.
4. EU dominates on routes
The United States has recovered the dominance it had on the most demanded routes with Mexico. Seven of the 10 largest routes in the first quarter of the year went to the United States, mainly from Cancun, a market where companies such as American Airlines were able to grow in the first months of the pandemic due to the high demand for leisure travel.
Gómez Suárez estimates that there could be a rebound when Category 1 is recovered, estimated for June of this year; however, it could lead to a rate war that aims to spread.
“It will depend on the loyalty of the passenger. Recovering this market will be difficult because people have not stopped flying, and because of this, they must have tried other foreign airlines in order to meet their air service expectations”, he concludes.