The launch of flights to McAllen on March 18, 2013 was not without their risks. The route had been stopped and started on a number of previous occasions, but the independent carrier was confident it could make the link work, where others have previously failed. Its management now confirms the route has “surpassed expectations” and frequencies have grown from three times weekly to an up to daily operation.
“We thought that with the changing demographics and developments in Mexico… it made sense to go back and look at that market and even though the numbers were very weak we knew that people were travelling by whatever means to that region,” said Fabricio Cojuc Wolfowitz, Executive Vice President, Chief Planning & Commercial Officer, Aeromar. In 2012 an estimated 2,800 O&D passengers travelled on the route. The largest traffic flows were via Houston on the services of United Airlines, although there are also flows via Dallas with American Airlines.
The route was historically served by Texas International Airlines on an up to twice daily basis using a Douglas DC-9 in the early 1980s up until its collapse in November 1982. It was then taken over by Continental Airlines (now part of United Airlines) with a daily schedule but the route was closed in September 1999. The flight was resumed in May 2004 through its ExpressJet regional partner using a 50-seat Embraer ERJ 145 but was again dropped in September 2007. In its final 12 months of flight operations an estimated 21,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route, highlighting the inherent demand.
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And after the success of its flights to McAllen, Aeromar will now introduce a direct link between Mexico City and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The three times weekly service will launch on October 21, 2013 and will be operated using a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 with frequencies increasing to five times weekly in early November 2013 and to daily over the Christmas and New Year period. Again Aeromar will be the sole operator on a route that has been previously flown by other Mexican operators in the past decade.
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According to MIDT data an estimated 10,000 bi-directional O&D passengers travelled on the route in 2012 with the largest traffic flows with largest traffic flows via Houston on the services of United Airlines, and Dallas with American Airlines. When the route was last operated on a regular basis in 2007, the statistics show that around 26,000 passengers travelled between the two cities.
Fabricio Cojuc habla de Aeromar y su estrategia de internacionalización; en Negocios
