Volaris

Volaris (legally ''Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación S.A.B. de C.V.'') is a Mexican low-cost airline based in Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City with its operating bases in Cancún, Culiacán, Guadalajara, León/Del Bajío, Mexicali, Mexico City, Monterrey, and Tijuana. It is Mexico's largest airline by transported passengers and serves domestic and international destinations within the Americas. It is the leading airline in the Mexican domestic airline market with a market share of 42%.

History

The pre-operations phase, the founding of the legal entities and setting up of the required infrastructure, started in August 2005 under the name ''Vuela Airlines''. The idea for the airline was formed from the proposed "Vuelamex" project. Major initial shareholders of the company were Grupo Televisa (the world's biggest Spanish-language media conglomerate), Inbursa (an insurance company owned by multi-billionaire Carlos Slim), TACA Airlines and the Discovery Americas Fund. Each of these partners invested 25% of the initial cost of activities, or 100 million USD.

In July 2010, it was announced that Televisa and Inbursa had sold their stake in Volaris leaving the ownership of Volaris as follows: 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 Bill Franke.

Ticket sales started in January 2006. 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 being between Toluca and Tijuana.

Volaris began service to Mexico City in September 2010 after absorbing flight routes from two defunct Mexican airlines, Aerocalifornia and Mexicana. In March 2011, the airline announced that its hub in Toluca would move to Guadalajara.

In June 2012, the airline launched a frequent flyer program called VClub. It is the membership program that provides special fares, offers, last minute travel deals and other perks. Customers can save up to 40% using the VClub membership. In June 2012, PayPal became a payment alternative for the airline, enabling customers to purchase tickets directly from the airline's website. In September 2012, Volaris announced a codeshare partnership with a German airline, Condor. Passengers of Condor are able to fly to more international destinations.

On March 13, 2013, the airline celebrated its seventh anniversary, offering passengers 70% off all flights, it has done this every year since then. Volaris announced the creation of a subsidiary, Volaris Costa Rica, in March 2016. The subsidiary, based at Juan Santamaría International Airport in the Costa Rican capital of San José, started operations in November 2016.

As of 2022, Volaris has faced multiple class-action lawsuits due to failure to properly refund flights canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

International operations

In November 2008, Volaris announced a codeshare agreement with U.S.-based low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines. In April 2009, Volaris announced the start of U.S.-bound flights out of Toluca and Guadalajara (initially to Los Angeles and Oakland) to feed into the hubs of Southwest Airlines. After Mexicana de Aviación's shutdown, Volaris took over many of Mexicana's international destinations and flights from its focus city, Guadalajara. The airline began using Guadalajara International Airport as an American gateway hub in late 2011.

In February 2013, Volaris and Southwest stopped codesharing. Southwest decided to focus more on the Mexican market with AirTran Airways, instead of codesharing with Volaris. In January 2018, Volaris announced a codeshare agreement with American low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines.

Corporate affairs

Business trends

The key trends for Volaris are (as of the financial year ending 31 December):

Headquarters

The airline is headquartered in Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City. It formerly had its headquarters on the first floor of Prolongación Paseo de la Reforma 490 in Peña Blanca, Santa Fe.

Services

Volaris cabins are configured in a single class, high density layout.

Volaris does not provide complimentary meals or drinks on its flights. Passengers may purchase items on board from the "Entre nubes" buy on board program. Onboard sales are an important part of the airline's ancillary revenue. Items such as snacks, pillows, blankets and Volaris-branded items are sold on board. Volaris' monthly inflight magazine is called "V de Volaris".

The airline had previously provided in-flight entertainment (IFE) in most aircraft, utilizing drop-down screens on its Airbus aircraft. By 2019, all use of IFE had been discontinued.

Frequent flyer program

VClub is Volaris' frequent flyer program. It gives members exclusive deals on flights, baggage and packages. The airline offers individual and group memberships, with the option to pay monthly or annually. Volaris offers VPass, similar to Spirit's "$9 Fare Club". It offers a set subscription price, and charges customers only for taxes and additional services. Customers can book codeshare flights and earn points through fellow ultra-low-cost carrier, Frontier Airlines.

Corporate identity

Trivia

* Two Volaris safety videos were made: one featured actress Claudia Lizaldi while one featured young children demonstrating the safety procedures. As of 2018, both videos have been retired.
* Every new plane has a person's name on it, for example, one plane may have "Samuel" written on it, while another plane may have "Luisa" written on it. Recently, some planes have been named after families, e.g. ""Los Capistrán", or after new countries they begin service to, e.g. "Guatemala".

Brand image

The Volaris logo, since its launch in 2005, has been a colorful, pixelated star against a black background. It represents the north star, Polaris, from which the airline's name is derived.

Advertising slogans

Volaris has used several slogans over the years:
*2005–2008 – "Lo quieres, lo tienes" (You want it, you got it.)
*2008–2012 – "Vive viajando" (Live travelling)
*2013–2017 – "Tu decides" (You decide). Launched after the introduction of the "clean fare", which no longer included the cost of food, baggage, or seat selection in the airline's ticket prices.
*2015 – "Queremos que todo el mundo vuele" (We want the whole world to fly)
*2015–present – "Precios que te hacen viajar" (Prices that make you travel)
*2016 – "Avión a precio de camión" (The plane at the price of a bus)
*November 2018 – present – "Don't just fly, ''vuela''"

Destinations

Volaris operates scheduled flights to Mexico and elsewhere in the Americas from its hubs at Guadalajara International Airport in Guadalajara, Mexico City International Airport in Mexico City, and Tijuana International Airport in Tijuana. Focus cities include Cancún International Airport in Cancún, Bajío International Airport in León, and Monterrey International Airport in Monterrey.

Operating bases

Volaris operates crew bases at the following airports:
*Cancún
*Culiacán
*Guadalajara
* León/Del Bajío
*Mexico City
*Monterrey
*Morelia
*Tijuana

Codeshare agreements

* Frontier Airlines
* Iberia
* Copa Airlines

Interline agreements

*Condor

Incidents

* On 8 December 2024, a passenger tried to enter the cockpit of a Volaris aircraft flying from Leon to Tijuana, forcing its diversion to Guadalajara, where the passenger was arrested after having been previously subdued by other passengers. The suspect said that he wanted to divert the aircraft to the United States after receiving a death threat from drug cartels.

Fleet

Current fleet

, Volaris operates an all- Airbus A320 family fleet composed of the following aircraft:Airbus Orders and Deliveries (XLS), monthly updated, accessed via

Fleet development

*Volaris became the first North American operator of the Airbus A320neo aircraft in September 2016.
*In November 2017, during the Dubai Airshow, Indigo Partners announced an order for 430 aircraft of the Airbus A320neo family of which 80 will be for Volaris as follows: 46 Airbus A320neo aircraft and 34 Airbus A321neo aircraft.
*In November 2021 during the Dubai Airshow, Volaris announced an order for 39 Airbus A321neo. An existing order for 20 Airbus A320neo aircraft was converted into A321neo.
*On June 20, 2023, during the Paris Air Show, Volaris announced an order for 25 Airbus A321neo aircraft.

See also

* List of airlines of Mexico
* List of low-cost airlines

References

External links

*

{{Authority control

Airlines of Mexico
Low-cost carriers
Mexican brands
Companies based in Mexico City
Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City
Airlines established in 2005
Avianca
Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Companies in the Indice de Precios y Cotizaciones
Mexican companies established in 2005