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Founded | 2006 | ||||||
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Operating bases | |||||||
Fleet size | 21 | ||||||
Destinations | 25 | ||||||
Company slogan |
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Parent company | Inversionistas en Autotransportes Mexicanos S.A. de C.V., Irelandia Aviation | ||||||
Headquarters | Insurgentes Norte 42, Mexico City, Mexico | ||||||
Key people |
Roberto Alcántara (Chairman) Juan Carlos Zuazua (CEO) Robert Zoller (COO) Manuel Ambriz (CCO) Alan Bird (CFO) |
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Website | www.vivaaerobus.com |
Aeroenlaces Nacionales, S.A. de C.V., trading as VivaAerobus, is a Mexican low-cost airline fully owned by the biggest bus company group in Mexico, IAMSA.
VivaAerobus started operations on November 30, 2006 with its hub at Monterrey International Airport (MTY), in Monterrey, Mexico. The airline initially connected Monterrey to a number of Mexican domestic locations and, in July 2007, publicly confirmed its intention to open its first base outside of Mexico and first US destination in Austin, Texas (although it ultimately pulled out of Austin in 2009).
VivaAerobus is co-owned by the Ryan family (founders of Irish airline Ryanair) and the Mexican bus company IAMSA. The Ryans joined with Alexander Maurice Mason of Kite Investments to establish "RyanMex" to facilitate the Irish family's investment in the Mexican airline. RyanMex holds 49 percent of shares in the airline, while IAMSA has the remaining majority stake. The airline commenced operations with an initial investment of $50 million and two Boeing 737-300 aircraft.
VivaAerobus fares were intended to undercut traditional Mexican carriers by up to 50 percent, in a change of the industry that started with the arrival of the country's second generation of low-cost airlines (Avolar, Click Mexicana, Interjet, Volaris) and the privatization of Mexicana, one of the two top national airlines. On November 5, 2007 the airline received approval from the US Department of Transportation to operate to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, initially serving the Mexican destinations of Cancún, Monterrey, Guadalajara and León. Flights to the South Terminal Austin began on May 1, 2008.