In this context, Travel2latam spoke with Carlos Molina, Distribution and Sales Manager for Central and South America at Volaris.
When we are talking about Central America, what are the destinations that you cover?
We are currently flying to Guatemala, San Salvador, San José, Costa Rica and San Pedro Sula in Honduras.
Are they direct flights from different origins?
In the case of El Salvador we have flights from eight origins in the US. El Salvador is a small hub that we have. From here we distribute all our offer from Central America to the United States. And here we connect passengers from Guatemala, Costa Rica and San Pedro Sula. If we talk about South America we fly from Bogotá and Lima to Mexico City, directly, with a flight every day.
And from Central America to South America?
At this time our routes from San José, Costa Rica, to Lima and to Bogotá are temporarily suspended, but we hope to resume them towards the first quarter of next year.
And from the point of view of opening new destinations, are you working on it?
Yes, we have not yet fully defined which routes will be operated. We are seeing some additional ones to the US from San Salvador and from San José, Costa Rica.
Is Volaris considered a regular airline in terms of fares or is it a low-cost airline?
We are a totally low-cost airline. We have two modalities, you can buy only the basic product you need, for example, the basic fare and without suitcase, without luggage, without seat assignment, and then buy each of the products you need separately; or you can buy combos that include different services such as checked bags, carry-on bags, seat assignments, etc.
Are the routes from Central America to the US “ethnic”?
Yes, the main source of traffic is ethnic, but we also reach other segments. Business, for example, because there are also second-generation Central Americans who live in the United States and do business with their countries of origin, or even American companies that have some interests in Central America. And as you can see now here at the fair there are many American wholesalers who sell their Central American product in the United States.
What is the situation of the fleet?
It is a modern fleet, they are all Airbus of the 320 and 321 family. Today we continue to grow with airplanes of this same type, all new, that are arriving from the factory. We have different deliveries in the future, but the one we have with Airbus is practically one of the most modern fleets in Latin America.
What is the competition situation like on air routes?
We compete in different markets and with different airlines. Mainly against Aeroméxico, a little against Viva from South America, and Avianca within Central America to the United States. This forces us to improve the service, and to have a better rate scheme.
Is there any policy used to gain consumer interest?
Yes of course. For example, we launched a service called Volaris Global that can be purchased through our website and consists of making virtual connections with different airlines to practically the entire world. We have connections from different airports in Korea. They are virtual connections, which we create through a business partner, a third party.
We also have different programs. One for corporates called V business, which is a plan designed for businessmen, mainly small and medium-sized SME companies, although large companies can also participate, and it has some special benefits precisely so that the company saves money, and optimize your travel budgets.
We have another program called V club, which is a membership at a very low price, which allows very significant discounts on all trips in the rest of the year. This does not apply in Central America because it does not exist, but there is a program in Mexico that for each purchase made, points are added and then they can be converted into plane tickets. That only applies to Mexico, but we are still looking for how to implement something similar in Central America.
From a general point of view, the company is always growing…
Yes, we have not stopped growing in the number of passengers year after year. Before and after the pandemic we have been growing. We have already recovered pre-pandemic volumes, even beyond. And not only in number of passengers, but in number of destinations. We are flying to many more destinations and we are, for example, about to open flights in Tulum, at the Tulum Airport. We do not stop growing both in routes, destinations, and obviously in the number of passengers.