VivaAerobús

Aeroenlaces Nacionales, S.A. de C.V., trading as VivaAerobus, is a Mexican low-cost airline fully owned by the largest bus company group in Mexico, IAMSA.

"RyanMex" redirects here. For the airline in Europe, see Ryanair.
VivaAerobus
IATA ICAO Callsign
VB VIV AEROENLACES
Founded2006
AOC #V8OF230F[1]
Operating bases
Frequent-flyer programViva Fan [2]
Fleet size38
Destinations42[3]
Parent companyInversionistas en Autotransportes Mexicanos S.A. de C.V.
HeadquartersInsurgentes Norte 42, Mexico City, Mexico
Key peopleRoberto Alcántara (Chairman)
Juan Carlos Zuazua (CEO)
Robert Zoller (COO)
Manuel Ambriz (CCO)
Alan Bird (CFO)
Websitevivaaerobus.com

History

VivaAerobus started operations on November 30, 2006 with its hub at Monterrey International Airport (MTY), in Monterrey, Mexico. 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[4]).

VivaAerobus was co-owned by Ryanair 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. RyanMex used to hold 49 percent of shares in the airline, while IAMSA had the remaining majority stake. As of December 8, 2016, IAMSA holds 100% of the company.[5] The airline commenced operations with an initial investment of $50 million and two Boeing 737-300 aircraft.

VivaAerobus 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, Click Mexicana, Interjet, Volaris) and the privatization of Mexicana, one of the two top national airlines. On November 5, 2007, the airline received approval from the US Department of Transportation to operate to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, initially serving the Mexican destinations of Cancún, Monterrey, Guadalajara and León. Flights to the South Terminal Austin began on May 1, 2008.

On May 16, 2009, VivaAerobus 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, which caused an unprecedented decrease in demand for service.[6] 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 and 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. However, the airline planned to serve Houston Hobby Airport on completion of that airport's new terminal in 2015.[7]

In 2010, the airline opened a focus city at Mexico City International Airport on October 1 after Mexicana ceased operations. VivaAerobus switched Mexico City from focus city into a hub on April 1, 2011, beginning more destinations from the airport.[8]

On July 26, 2011, the airline received approval to fly to Chicago-Midway International Airport.[9] On August 15 the same year, VivaAerobus announced it would begin round-trip service between San Antonio (SAT) and Monterrey (MTY), Mexico starting that November.[10] 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. In addition, the airline flew to Morelia, Guadalajara, Leon and Zacatecas from Chicago-O'Hare for the 2019-2020 winter season.[11]

On May 15, 2014, VivaAerobus received and started using Airbus A320s. It continued using Boeing 737s until the end of 2016, when it began operating an all Airbus fleet.[12][13]

In October 2014, VivaAerobus 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.[14] The service was terminated in October 2015.[15]

On December 17, 2017, VivaAerobus began non-stop service to Los Angeles International Airport from Guadalajara International Airport.[16]

In 2018, VivaAerobus began non-stop service to Las Vegas International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport from Mexico City International Airport.[17]

VivaAerobus announced the launch of its cargo subsidiary, Viva Cargo, in January 2020.[18]

Destinations
Main article: List of VivaAerobús destinations

In-flight services

VivaAerobus has a buy on board program offering food and drinks for purchase.[19]

The airline also provides an in-flight magazine.

Bus services

VivaAerobus operates a shuttle bus from downtown El Paso, Texas to Abraham González International Airport in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.[20]

VivaAerobus operated a bus shuttle between Austin-Bergstrom International Airport South Terminal and the Omnibus Mexicanos Bus Terminal in eastern Houston in addition to a bus shuttle between the Austin airport and the Omnibus Mexicanos Bus Terminal in downtown San Antonio for passengers on flights going to and from Cancún and Monterrey.[21][22]

Fleet
A VivaAerobus A320neo at Victoria International Airport

As of June 2020, the VivaAerobus fleet consists of the following aircraft:[23]

VivaAerobus fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
Airbus A320-200 19 — 180
Airbus A320neo 18 6 186[24]
Airbus A321neo 1[25] 42 240[26]
Total 38 48

In May 2015, the airline took ownership of the first Airbus A320neo. This was part of an order placed with Airbus in 2013 for 52 Airbus A320 family aircraft, including 12 A320neos, at the time the largest number of aircraft ordered by a Mexican airline directly from Airbus.[24] At the time of receiving the first A320neo the carrier operated a fleet of six leased A320s and Boeing 737-300 aircraft.[27] The first A320neo was delivered in 2016.[24]

gollark: It won't sell well unless you can work in something marketable too and also generalising from anecdotes not that good.
gollark: I see.
gollark: If they were something you showed other people, they would just be written mostly for signalling and ignored.
gollark: It's definitely a time of day here.
gollark: Nope. It's often socially acceptable to be mean to people if they're in a different political group.

References
  1. "Viva Aerobus Air Operators Certificate". Airline Certificate Information–AEROENLACES NACIONALES S A DE C V. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  2. https://www.vivaaerobus.com/en/vivafan
  3. "Our Destinations". VivaAerobus. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  4. Reed Business Information Limited. "VivaAerobus to drop all Austin services". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  5. "'Mexicanizan' a VivaAerobus". Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  6. Eaton, Tim. "Viva Aerobus to cease operations out of Austin-Bergstrom Archived 2009-05-19 at the Wayback Machine." Austin American-Statesman. Saturday, May 16, 2009. Accessed May 16, 2009.
  7. "Houston airport operator envisions Hobby offering international flights in 12 markets". centreforaviation.com. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  8. "Historia de VivaAerobus". Retrieved 2020-05-14.
  9. "Viaje de Monterrey a Chicago desde 125 dólares, Negocios, El Semanario". 27 July 2011. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  10. Archived 2011-08-23 at the Wayback Machine
  11. "¡Prepárate! A partir de esta fecha habrá vuelos Morelia-Chicago O'Hare". MiMorelia.com. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  12. "VivaAerobus Starts A320 Operations in Mexico". Caribbean News Digital. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  13. 4-traders (14 May 2014). "AIRBUS : Viva Aerobus starts A320 operations in Mexico". 4-traders.com. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  14. "VivaAerobus to Launch Mexican Service from Dallas Fort Worth". Airchive. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  15. "VivaAerobus pulls back on US routes as the Viva Group takes aim at Costa Rica". Centreforaviation.com. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  16. "vivaAerobus adds Guadalajara – Los Angeles route from Dec 2017". Routesonline. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  17. "VIVA AEROBUS BOOSTS INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIVITY WITH ITS NEW ROUTE MEXICO CITY – NEW YORK". Viva Aerobus. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  18. "VIVA AEROBUS ENTERS THE AIR FREIGHT MARKET WITH ITS VIVA CARGO SERVICE". Viva Aerobus. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  19. "Know Before You Go." Viva Aerobus. Retrieved on January 12, 2009.
  20. Archived 2009-01-16 at the Wayback Machine
  21. "VivaAerobus.com - SHUTTLE AUSTIN - HOUSTON". 22 September 2008. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  22. Archived 2009-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  23. "Airbus orders and deliveries". Airbus. January 2020. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  24. Nensel, Mark (6 October 2016). "Mexican LCC VivaAerobus receives first A320neo". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 7 October 2016.
  25. "VivaAerobus recebe seu primeiro Airbus A321neo". Aeroflap.com.br. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  26. "Nuevos aviones" [New aircraft] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 December 2018.
  27. Blachly, Linda (14 May 2015). "VivaAerobus takes delivery of first A320". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 14 May 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.