Volaris' domestic expansion is made possible by six additional aircraft, including two Airbus A319s which will be placed into service next month and another four A319s which will be delivered in 2011. Volaris was originally planning to use some of this additional capacity to expand its US network - which now consists of Los Angeles, Oakland and San Jose in California. But this is no longer an option due to category 2, which prohibits any Mexican carrier from adding any capacity on US routes until category 1 status is regained.
"Next year, we have four aircraft entering as part of our purchase order. We have not committed them to a specific route or market yet. With Category 2 restrictions in USA probably still in place at that time, we are also looking at domestic capacity expansion," Blankenstein explains.
The two additional aircraft being placed into service next month will be used in part to support the new Mexico City-Mexicali route and another previously announced new daily flight connecting Tijuana with Cuernavaca from 1 October. Blankenstein says Volaris will also use the additional capacity to boost frequencies on its routes from Guadalajara to Cancun, Tijuana and Mexicali.
The two additional A319s, which are being leased from CIT, give the carrier a fleet of 21 A319s and two A320s with an average age of only 3.2 years. One of these aircraft, XA-VOP, was delivered earlier this month and the second aircraft is scheduled to be delivered by the end of this month.www.volaris.com.mx
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