Aeroenlaces Nacionales, S.A. de C.V., trading as Viva Aerobus, is a Mexican
low-cost airline
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
fully owned by the largest bus company group in Mexico,
IAMSA, and was co-founded by and invested in by Irelandia Aviation.
Based in
Monterrey International Airport
Monterrey International Airport, ( es, link=yes, Aeropuerto Internacional de Monterrey, ), ceremonial name General Mariano Escobedo International Airport, is an international airport located in Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico. Together with Del ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. Viva Aerobus started operations in November 2006 with only one nonstop service and, currently, it already offers more than 130 routes in more than 40 destinations serving
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
with more than 100,000 flights per year. Its six bases are located in
Cancun,
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
,
Mérida,
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
,
Monterrey
Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...
and
Tijuana
Tijuana ( ,["Tijuana"](_blank)
(US) and [< ...]
.
History
VivaAerobús commenced operations on November 30, 2006, with its hub at
Monterrey International Airport
Monterrey International Airport, ( es, link=yes, Aeropuerto Internacional de Monterrey, ), ceremonial name General Mariano Escobedo International Airport, is an international airport located in Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico. Together with Del ...
, in
Monterrey
Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...
, Mexico, and with an initial investment of $50 million and two
Boeing 737-300
The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft.
Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...
aircraft.
VivaAerobús was co-owned by
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
's Irelandia Aviation and the Mexican bus company IAMSA.
Ryanair joined with Alexander Maurice Mason of Kite Investments to establish "RyanMex" to facilitate the Irish family's investment in the Mexican airline. IAMSA has showed interest in developing a new stage of transportation after its successful bus market in Mexico, and Irelandia has been actively investigating the market opportunity, leading to the companies' partnership to form a Mexican low-cost carrier.
Irelandia held a 49 percent of shares in the airline, while IAMSA had the remaining majority stake.
The airline initially connected Monterrey to a number of Mexican domestic locations and, in July 2007, publicly confirmed its intention to open its first base outside of Mexico and first US destination in Austin, Texas (although it ultimately pulled out of Austin in 2009).
VivaAerobús fares were intended to undercut traditional Mexican carriers by up to 50 percent, in a change of the industry that started with the arrival of the country's second generation of low-cost airlines (
Avolar
Avolar Aerolíneas, S.A. de C.V. (sensational spelling of "a volar", roughly meaning "Let's fly") was a low-cost airline based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, with corporate offices in Tijuana. The airline operated a domestic network of 17 ...
,
MexicanaClick
MexicanaClick, formerly Click Mexicana, was Mexicana's regional operator, serving most of Mexicana's domestic routes between more than 25 Mexican cities. It was founded as a low-cost carrier, but changed its market to regional operations after i ...
,
Interjet
Interjet (official legal name ABC Aerolíneas, S.A. de C.V.), also known as Interjet Airlines, was a Mexican low-cost carrier headquartered in Mexico City. The airline operated scheduled flights to and from various destinations within Mexico, as ...
,
Volaris
Volaris, legally ''Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación S.A.P.I. de C.V.'', is a Mexican low-cost airline based in Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City l-888-Ʒ9Ʒ-I394 with its hubs in Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Tijuana, and focu ...
) and the privatization of
Mexicana de Aviación
Compañía Mexicana de Aviación, S.A. de C.V. (usually shortened to Mexicana de Aviación or simply Mexicana) was Mexico's oldest airline and one of the List of airlines by foundation date, oldest continuously single-branded airlines (after ...
, one of the two top national airlines. The airline started operations at
Monterrey International Airport
Monterrey International Airport, ( es, link=yes, Aeropuerto Internacional de Monterrey, ), ceremonial name General Mariano Escobedo International Airport, is an international airport located in Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico. Together with Del ...
in November 2006 with two aircraft and one nonstop service connecting
Monterrey
Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...
to
Tijuana
Tijuana ( ,["Tijuana"](_blank)
(US) and [< ...]
, under the leadership of Mike Szucs as its CEO. A year after its foundation, in October 2007, Viva Aerobus had already transported one million passengers. Later, Donald Rogers became Viva Aerobus CEO in May 2009, year when
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
became the airline's second base. In June 2010 the airline's leadership was assigned to Juan Carlos Zuazua, current CEO . Expansion continued and the airline established
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
,
Cancun,
Tijuana
Tijuana ( ,["Tijuana"](_blank)
(US) and [< ...]
and
Mérida as its new bases in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2022, respectively.
On November 5, 2007, the airline received approval from the
US Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...
to operate to
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, initially serving the Mexican destinations of
Cancún
Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...
, Monterrey,
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
and
León. Flights to the
South Terminal Austin
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
began on May 1, 2008.
On May 16, 2009, VivaAerobús stated it would cease passenger operations at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on May 31, 2009. The airline blamed the pullout in part on an outbreak of
swine flu
Swine influenza is an infection caused by any of several types of swine influenza viruses. Swine influenza virus (SIV) or swine-origin influenza virus (S-OIV) refers to any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As ...
, which caused an unprecedented decrease in demand for service. The company began to fly between Monterrey and Las Vegas in the summer of 2009.
In November 2009, the airline announced it had applied to commence operations between
Hermosillo
Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city located in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo Municipality, Her ...
and
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
beginning in March 2010.
In April 2010, the airline finally began serving Mexico's capital with two flights, one from Monterrey and the other from Guadalajara. It also started serving Houston's
George Bush Intercontinental Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Located about north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 ...
. However, the airline planned to serve
Houston Hobby Airport
William P. Hobby Airport (colloquially referred to as Hobby Airport, Houston Hobby, or simply Hobby) is an international airport in Houston, Texas, located from downtown Houston. Hobby is Houston's oldest commercial airport, and was its primar ...
on completion of that airport's new terminal in 2015.
In 2010, the airline opened a focus city at
Mexico City International Airport
Mexico City International Airport ( es, link=yes, Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México, AICM); officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez'' (Benito Juárez International Airport) is the main international airport serving ...
on October 1 after Mexicana ceased operations. VivaAerobús switched Mexico City from focus city into a hub on April 1, 2011, beginning more destinations from the airport.
On July 26, 2011, the airline received approval to fly to
Chicago-Midway International Airport
Chicago Midway International Airport , typically referred to as Midway Airport, Chicago Midway, or simply Midway, is a major commercial airport on the Southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the Ch ...
. On August 15 the same year, VivaAerobús announced it would begin round-trip service between San Antonio (SAT) and Monterrey (MTY), Mexico starting that November. On April 13, 2012, the airline ceased flights to Chicago Midway. On December 7, 2019, the airline resumed flying from Monterrey to Chicago, but this time via
O'Hare International Airport
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop, ...
. In addition, the airline flew to
Morelia
Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and larg ...
,
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
,
Leon
Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to:
Places
Europe
* León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León
* Province of León, Spain
* Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...
and
Zacatecas
, image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg
, map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico
, coordinates =
, coor_pinpoint =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type ...
from Chicago-O'Hare for the 2019-2020
winter season
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures d ...
.
In October 2013, VivaAerobús has signed an agreement to order 52
Airbus A320
The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus.
The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...
aircraft for $5.1 billion, making it the largest order by a Latin American carrier.
On May 15, 2014, VivaAerobús received and started using
Airbus A320s. It continued using Boeing 737s until the end of 2016, when it began operating an all Airbus fleet.
In October 2014, VivaAerobús began nonstop flights from Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua State) to Mexico City, León, and Hermosillo. In 2015, the airline launched flights to
Dallas–Fort Worth from several Mexican cities. The service was terminated in October 2015.
As of December 8, 2016, IAMSA has acquired a 100 percent stake of the company after Irelandia Aviation sold its 49% stake to the company following regulatory approval.
On December 17, 2017, VivaAerobús began non-stop service to
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...
from Guadalajara International Airport.
In 2018, VivaAerobús began non-stop service to
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
from Mexico City International Airport.
VivaAerobús announced the launch of its cargo subsidiary, Viva Cargo, in January 2020.
In late-October 2021, VivaAerobús has announced an
interline agreement
Interlining, also known as interline ticketing and interline booking, is a voluntary commercial agreement between individual airlines to handle passengers traveling on itineraries that require multiple flights on multiple airlines. Such agreement ...
with
Viva Air Colombia
Fast Colombia S.A.S., trading as Viva Air Colombia and formerly VivaColombia, is a Colombian low-cost airline based in Rionegro, Antioquia, Colombia. It is a subsidiary of Irelandia Aviation and third largest airline in the country. It is not le ...
which took effect on November 1, 2021.
In December 2021, VivaAerobús has partnered with
Allegiant Air
Allegiant Air (usually shortened to Allegiant) is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier that operates scheduled and charter flights. It is a major air carrier, the fourteenth-largest commercial airline in North America.
Allegiant was founded in 1 ...
to form an alliance and expand low-budget services between the United States and Mexico. Subject to regulatory approval, the alliance is planned to launch in 2023.
In early August 2022, VivaAerobús announced a
codeshare
A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...
agreement with
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
to better connect passengers going between Mexico and Spain.
Destinations
Corporate affairs
The corporate headquarters is in Terminal C of
Monterrey International Airport
Monterrey International Airport, ( es, link=yes, Aeropuerto Internacional de Monterrey, ), ceremonial name General Mariano Escobedo International Airport, is an international airport located in Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico. Together with Del ...
in
Apodaca, Nuevo Leon
Apodaca () is a city and its surrounding municipalities of Mexico, municipality that is part of Monterrey Metropolitan area. It lies in the northeastern part of the Monterrey metropolitan area, Monterrey Metropolitan Area. It is known for becomin ...
. It occupies space in the terminal's cargo zone.
In-flight services
, VivaAerobús has a
buy on board
Buy may refer to a trade, i.e., an exchange of goods and services via bartering or a monetary purchase.
The term may also refer to:
Places
* Buy (inhabited locality), any of several inhabited localities in Russia
* Burlington-Alamance Regional A ...
program offering food and drinks for purchase.
Bus services
VivaAerobús operates a shuttle bus from downtown
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
to
Abraham González International Airport
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews ...
in
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Ju ...
,
Chihuahua.
VivaAerobús operated a bus shuttle between
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport South Terminal and the Omnibus Mexicanos Bus Terminal in eastern
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
in addition to a bus shuttle between the Austin airport and the Omnibus Mexicanos Bus Terminal in downtown
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
for passengers on flights going to and from Cancún and Monterrey.
Fleet
In its beginnings, Viva Aerobus operated with a fleet integrated by
Boeing 737-300
The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft.
Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...
aircraft. In October 2016, the airline took ownership of the first
PW1100-JM-powered
Airbus A320neo.
This was part of an order placed with Airbus in October 2013 for 52
Airbus A320 family
The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus.
The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France.
The first member of the famil ...
aircraft, including 12 A320ceos, at the time the largest number of aircraft ordered by a Mexican airline directly from Airbus.
The first A320ceo had been delivered in May 2015.
At the time of receiving the first A320ceo the carrier operated a fleet of six leased A320s and
Boeing 737-300
The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft.
Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...
aircraft.
VivaAerobús amended and existing order with Airbus in July 2018 to include the
Airbus A321neo
The Airbus A320neo family is a development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus.
The A320neo family (''neo'' for "new engine option") is based on the previous A319, A320 and A321 ( enhanced variant), which was then ren ...
, of which 41 were included in the new orderbook.
The carrier took delivery of the first of these aircraft in June 2020.
As of November 2022, Viva Aerobus reported the youngest fleet in Mexico and the second youngest fleet in North America with an average age of 5 years, integrated, by 68 Airbus: 42 Airbus A320 and 128 Airbus A321.
Sponsorships
* ''Sports sponsorships.'' To promote physical activity and healthy recreation, Viva Aerobus has been the official sponsor of the
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth.
Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...
,
Tigres UANL
Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, simply known as Tigres UANL or Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Nicolás de los Garza, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León. Foun ...
and
America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
soccer teams; as well as Los Tomateros de Culiacan and Sultanes de Monterrey baseball teams. Internationally, it is also a sponsor of the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
team
Los San Antonio Spurs and the
Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West divis ...
of the
NFL.
References
External links
Viva Aerobus Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viva Aerobus
Airlines of Mexico
Low-cost carriers
Airlines established in 2006
Companies based in Mexico City
Mexican brands
2006 establishments in Mexico