Volaris to begin flights to San Salvador and Managua in coming months

“We made sure the market was going to move when we walked in and that’s what we’re seeing now. That is why we want to continue with the strategy that we have set ourselves from the beginning, “said Fernando Naranjo, general manager of Volaris Costa Rica.

A little more than a month after the start of operations of Volaris and Wingo, the first low-cost airlines in the region, are already beginning to show the first affected.

VECA and Wingo were two of those affected, while Avianca readjusted its prices to Guatemala, due to the market demand.
As for the Salvadoran airline Central American Economic Flights (VECA), it closed its operations in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, due to a high level of indebtedness and expenses, few revenues from sale of air tickets and loss of Its planes, according to the Diario de Hoy, newspaper of El Salvador.

The company issued a memorandum to its 250 employees in the region last Monday.
“The airline will suspend operations for a period of three months to restructure its business model in the face of the arrival of other competitors,” said José Luis Merino, Alba and VECA’s chief adviser to Diario de Hoy.
Sales and flight reservations are disabled, while passengers are advised to contact the Customer Service Department.
The idea is to acquire smaller planes to reduce costs and maintain operations at the Central American level.
Meanwhile, Wingo, Copa Airlines’ low-cost airline that started operating flights to Guatemala and Panama on December 1, 2016, canceled its destination to Guatemala City on January 11.
The reason given by the company in a statement was the recent behavior of that Central American destination.
Wingo said travelers have a preference for Copa Airlines’ “Legacy” product.

While it will focus its resources and efforts on other routes with greater demand for the type of product it markets.
In the missive also clarified that Copa Holdings will continue to operate the route to Guatemala through Copa Airlines, and that the elimination of the destination does not imply dismissal of personnel.
Avianca also had to adapt its strategies to attract customers.
The airline launched a promotion a week ago to make a round trip to Guatemala for $ 89 between February 1 and June 8, 2017.
The price includes a piece of hand luggage of 10 kilos and one or two pieces of checked luggage that add up to 23 kilos.
“We seek to encourage the flow of travelers in both the short and the long term. In addition, these promotional rates are final rates, without any additional charges before or during the trip, “said Danilo Correa, commercial director of Avianca for Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, the main winner appears to be Volaris, who starting December 1, already announced the start of operations to San Salvador on February 20 and its frequency to Managua in the coming weeks.
“We made sure the market was going to move when we walked in and that’s what we’re seeing now. That is why we want to continue with the strategy that we have set ourselves from the beginning, “said Fernando Naranjo, general manager of Volaris Costa Rica.
For the company the beginning has had an oscillation as far as the occupation of the flights.
“At the end of the year we saw planes almost full, while now we understand that the occupation is down for the season,” added Naranjo.
The idea of Volaris is to continue opening routes to other Central American countries in the coming years.
For the company the strategy with promotions such as those of Uber, Alajuelense Sports League and Deportivo Saprissa, as well as other dynamics in social networks, have consolidated the brand in the country.

WHO ARE THEY?

The beginnings of 2017 were a rearrangement of strategies and destinations of the airlines operating in the country. At the end of the year, there were five airlines competing in the Central American market, as both Copa and its own subsidiary Wingo started with its aeronautical services (financial data for 2015).

VOLARIS

Volaris is a low-cost airline with point-to-point service that operates in Mexico, Central America, the United States and Puerto Rico.

  • CEO Enrique Beltranena
  • Headquarters Mexico
  • Income $ 992 million
  • Utility $ 143 Million
  • Hub Mexico City
  • Headquarters Federal District
  • Subsidiary Volaris Costa Rica
  • Start 2005
  • Fleet 63 aircraft

AVIANCA HOLDINGS

Avianca Holdings is a Latin American company formed in February 2010 by the merger of Avianca de Colombia and TACA Airlines based in El Salvador.

  • CEO Hernán Rincón
  • Headquarters Bogotá, Colombia
  • Income $ 4.3 billion
  • Utility – $ 139 million
  • Fundation 1919
  • Subsidiaries Avianca, TACA Airlines, Avianca Brazil
  • Hubs Bogotá and El Salvador
  • Fleet 140+ aircraft
  • Coverage South America, Central America, Caribbean, USA, Europe
  • Matrix Synergy Group (Brazil)

COPA HOLDINGS

Copa Holdings is a Panamanian company created 50 years ago, whose first international destination was San José, Costa Rica.

  • CEO Pedro Heilbron
  • Headquarters Panama City
  • Income $ 2.3 billion
  • Utility – $ 225 million
  • Founded 1966
  • Subsidiaries Colombia and Wingo
  • Hubs Bogota and Panama
  • Fleets 100 aircraft
  • Coverage South America, Central America, Caribbean

VECA

VECA low cost airline that started operations two years ago.

  • Matrix Viajes Económicos Centroamericanos SA de CV
  • CEO Armando De Lucas Hurtado
  • Headquarters San Salvador
  • Income ND
  • Utility ND
  • Home 2014
  • Destinations San José, Managua, Guatemala * Data at the end of 2016
  • Fleet Two aircraft

PRICE COMPETITION

At the end of the previous year both Volaris and Wingo began operations with low cost flights.

Destinations Flights
Volaris Guatemala
El Salvador* Home February next
Two daily flights
A daily flight
Wingo Panamá Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday
VECA* *Data at the end of 2016 El Salvador Monday Wednesday and Friday
Air Panama Panamá Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday

Source: https://www.larepublica.net