Mexican low-cost carrier VivaAerobus has announced it is to introduce new links to the Florida cities of Miami and Orlando from its base at Monterrey’s General Mariano Escobedo International Airport, just a week after confirming the launch of flights between the Mexican city and Chicago Midway. The airline will also serve San Antonio increasing its US network to six destinations with existing connections to Houston and Las Vegas, routes it has been serving since 2009.
The twice weekly link to Miami will commence on November 11, the weekly Orlando service on November 19 three times weekly San Antonia service from November 7. There are currently no direct links from Monterrey to Miami or Orlando, although Aeromexico does offer a daily service to San Antonio using an Embraer regional jet. An estimated 16,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route in the last year, with around half having to connect via another US airport. Around 28,000 O&D passengers travelled between Monterrey and Miami and 12,000 between Monterrey and Orlando during the same period.
“VivaAerobus is extremely pleased to announce these new routes representing our consolidation in the local market,” said Roberto Valdez, Commercial Director, VivaAerobus. “Just a few years ago we had the vision to become a player with routes to the US market, and today we are able to offer our services to a growing number of different locations in the US.”
|
MAIN O&D MARKETS BETWEEN MONTERREY AND US (bi-directional O&D passengers)) |
|||
|
RANK |
DESTINATION |
ESTIMATED O&D PAX |
CURRENT OPERATORS |
|
1 |
Houston George Bush (IAH) |
107,539 |
Continental Airlines (57) |
|
2 |
Las Vegas McCarran (LAS) |
56,155 |
Aeromexico (4), VivaAerobus (4) |
|
3 |
Dallas/Fort Worth Int’l (DFW) |
39,761 |
American Airlines (28) |
|
4 |
Chicago O’Hare (ORD) |
37,173 |
Aeromexico (4) |
|
5 |
Detroit Wayne County (DTW) |
29,968 |
Delta Air Lines (7) |
|
6 |
Los Angeles (LAX) |
28,212 |
|
|
7 |
Miami International (MIA) |
27,537 |
|
|
8 |
New York La Guardia (LGA) |
19,465 |
|
|
9 |
San Antonio International (SAT) |
15,677 |
Aeromexico (7) |
|
10 |
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) |
15,232 |
Delta Air Lines (14) |
|
(others) |
231,535 |
- |
|
|
TOTAL |
608,259 |
- |
|
The above table highlights the largest O&D markets from Monterrey, noting the new VivaAerobus destination of Miami International as one of the key markets not currently served by direct flights. The airline has become known as the Ryanair of the South American market and is in fact a joint venture between Mexican bus operator IAMSA and Irish investment vehicle Irelandia, which is controlled by the Ryan family, the original founders of the Irish budget carrier. It launched flights in November 2006 and in its almost five years of operations has carried more than 8.5 million passengers. It now operates 15 Boeing 737-300s on a network that covers 54 routes.
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