Aeromexico is to boost its presence in the competitive Mexico - US market with two new routes to California and increased frequencies on three existing routes between the two countries. The airline will introduce a daily flight from Guadalajara to San Francisco from July 4 and a daily link from Guadalajara to Sacramento, the only overseas carrier to provide links to the latter airport.
This Guadalajara - Sacramento service will be launched on July 16, just under a year after Mexicana Airlines suspended flights from Mexico prior to its closure last August. “I am pleased to announce the return of a foreign carrier to our family of airlines,” said G Hardy Acree, Director of Airports for the Sacramento County Airport System. “Aeromexico understands the strength of our market.” There is a strong demand on the route with more than 45,000 O&D passengers travelling between the two destinations in the past year, and this led Alaska Airlines to add its own services on the route last December.
Elsewhere, Aeromexico is to offer an additional two rotations between Mexico City and Houston, increasing its flights to 23 per week from July 7; while the Mexico City – San Antonio route will be served 20 times per week from July 4, rather than 14 times at present. The airline holds the number two position on each of these routes carrying an estimated 120,000 and 38,000 O&D passengers respectively in the past 12 months.
Aeromexico is one of a number of carriers that has been seeking to fill the void in the market since the closure of Mexicana Airlines last year. In 2009 the failed operator carried 2.47 million O&D passengers between Mexico and the US, accounting for a 16.1 per cent of the total traffic. Even in 2010, when it was only operational for eight months, it held an 11.0 per cent share.
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MARKET ANALYSIS : MEXICO – UNITED STATES (bi-directional O&D traffic) |
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|
Rank |
Airline |
Estimated Passengers (2010) |
% Change (2009) |
Market Share |
|
1 |
Continental Airlines |
3,013,300 |
8.7 % |
18.8 % |
|
2 |
American Airlines |
2,665,635 |
4.9 % |
16.6 % |
|
3 |
US Airways |
1,771,952 |
23.6 % |
11.1 % |
|
4 |
Mexicana |
1,764,290 |
(28.6) % |
11.0 % |
|
5 |
Delta Air Lines |
1,559,194 |
41.7 % |
9.7 % |
|
6 |
Aeromexico |
1,412,934 |
12.4 % |
8.8 % |
|
7 |
Alaska Airlines |
1,095,115 |
2.6 % |
6.8 % |
|
8 |
United Airlines |
706,287 |
8.5 % |
4.4 % |
|
9 |
Volaris |
602,245 |
154.4 % |
3.8 % |
|
10 |
Frontier Airlines |
297,467 |
5.4 % |
1.9 % |
|
(Others) |
1,131,221 |
(26.6) % |
7.0 % |
|
|
TOTAL |
16,019,640 |
4.3 % |
100 % |
|
As the table above illustrates, the US majors dominate this particular country pair although Aeromexico and budget carrier Volaris have both increased their market presence, the latter more than doubling its traffic. US Airways and Delta Air Lines have also seen large rises in traffic, with industry consolidation the reason for their growth.
For more of this week's news and analysis please click here to read The HUB.
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