Summary
- Mexican ultra-low-cost carrier Viva Aerobus is expanding its presence with the launch of 17 new domestic routes from Mexico City’s Felipe Ángeles International Airport.
- The new routes will connect NLU with Mexican destinations such as Tulum, Guadalajara, Ciudad Juárez, and Puerto Vallarta, among others.
- Viva Aerobus aims to meet growing demand for air connectivity in the Mexico City metropolitan zone, offering new aircraft, direct flights, and low prices to benefit passengers and promote tourism and economic impact.
A day after announcing six new routes to the United States, the Mexican ultra-low-cost carrier Viva Aerobus has announced the launch of 17 new routes from Mexico City’s Felipe Ángeles International Airport (NLU). All these services are domestic. Let’s investigate further.
New routes
Viva Aerobus is growing its presence in key Mexican cities. On Thursday, the company announced the launch of 17 new routes from the Felipe Ángeles International Airport, which will be inaugurated between December 1, 2023 and July 5, 2024.
Photo: Markus Mainka/Shutterstock
All of these routes will connect NLU with Mexican domestic destinations. It will fly to Tulum (TQO, Mexico’s newest airport, set to be inaugurated on December 1), Guadalajara (GDL), Ciudad Juárez (CJS), Mérida (MID), Huatulco (HUX), Chihuahua (CUU), Reynosa (REX), Nuevo Laredo (NLD), Veracruz (VER), Tampico (TAM), Villahermosa (VSA), Tuxtla Gutiérrez (TGZ), Puerto Vallarta (PVR), Chetumal (CTM), Los Cabos (SJD), Ciudad Obregón (CEN), and Durango (DGO). You can see the new routes in the map below (except for the service to Tulum).
Juan Carlos Zuazua, Chief Executive Officer at Viva Aerobus, said,
“We continue to grow and expand our operations at the new Mexico City Airport, firmly convinced of the great potential of this infrastructure. These 17 new routes are designed to meet the growing demand for air connectivity in the Mexico City metropolitan zone with the best value proposition, featuring new aircraft, direct flights, and low prices that benefit all passengers and promote tourism, competitiveness, and economic impact in our country.”
To achieve this operation, Viva will have 27 routes, 72 daily flights, and 12 state-of-the-art aircraft dedicated to this airport.
Will MEX’s services be reduced?
The launch of these 17 new routes will come in time (or even after) the proposed slot reduction at Mexico City International Airport (MEX). Last month, the Mexican government ordered the reduction of hourly slots at MEX from 52 hourly operations to 43. This movement would only impact domestic carriers.
Photo: Markus Mainka/Shutterstock.
Simple Flying reached Viva Aerobus for comment if these new routes (most of which are currently operated from MEX as well), would mean a reduction in the number of flights from MEX. Viva Aerobus declined to comment on the subject.
Viva Aerobus’ connectivity from NLU
The Mexican ultra-low-cost carrier currently operates 55 weekly flights from the Felipe Ángeles. It serves ten destinations, including one international (Havana, Cuba). It also flies to Acapulco (ACA), Cancun (CUN), Hermosillo (HMO), Monterrey (MTY), Mazatlán (MZT), Oaxaca (OAX), Puerto Escondido (PXM), Tijuana (TIJ), and Zihuatanejo (ZIH).
It is the second largest airline in NLU at the moment. Aeromexico ranks first with 91 weekly flights.
Viva Aerobus’ announcement on Wednesday
Yesterday, Viva Aerobus announced the launch of six new routes to the United States from Monterrey International Airport. Between January and July 2024, the ultra-low-cost carrier will begin flying to Denver (DEN), Austin (AUS), Orlando (MCO), Miami (MIA), San Francisco Oakland (OAK), and New York (JFK).
These new routes were announced a few weeks after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave Mexico the top safety rating after two years downgraded to Category 2.
What do you think about Viva Aerobus’ new routes to be opened? Let us know in the comments below.