Mexicana has leased two former Excel Airways Airbus A330-200s to enable it to launch flights from Mexico City to Madrid early next year.
The carrier, which yesterday unveiled plans to branch into the transatlantic market for the first time with the launch of flights from Mexico City to London Gatwick in January, is looking to add more European destinations to its network.
Speaking to Airline Business at a press conference in London yesterday to announce the new Gatwick route, Mexicana senior vice-president customer service and corporate communications Adolfo Crespo said the carrier has leased two A330-200s from CIT, scheduled for delivery this month and next month. These aircraft will be used to launch service to Madrid in February.
Mexicana's new flights to London will be operated from 18 January using two leased Boeing 767-200s, which Crespo describes as "transitional aircraft". He adds: "Aircraft are not readily available. We are in line to get the [Boeing] 787, but we could not wait any longer." Mexicana is yet to place an order for 787s.
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Until now, Mexicana has solely operated flights within the Americas. Rival carrier Aeromexico has traditionally been the only Mexican airline to serve Europe. While Aeromexico does not serve London, Mexicana's new Madrid route will compete head-to-head with its former stable mate's daily flights to the Spanish capital. And Aeromexico could face more competition on European routes from Mexicana in the future: "We plan more destinations to Europe," says Crespo, although he declines to specify which cities are under consideration.
Part of the reason for Mexicana's decision to expand into Europe is its planned entry to the Oneworld alliance, which is scheduled to officially occur in March. "We chose London because our partner in the UK will be British Airways," says Crespo. BA operates a thrice-weekly service to Mexico City from London Heathrow, the airport Mexicana would have liked to have served but was unable to secure the necessary slots.
Another reason for this change in strategy is the pressure Mexicana has been facing from low-cost carriers in its home market. "Six new airlines were created in Mexico and this put additional pressure on our yields," says Crespo. "It was a cosy little world before but we've had to change from the old Mexicana to an open market airlineAs we faced competition from low-cost carriers we had to move out of domestic and into international services."
However, the carrier does have concerns over load factors in the current challenging environment: "We need to be up to a 71% load factor [on the Mexico City-London service] very quickly. The world economy is not doing very well and we are concerned about load factors in the future."
There have been signs recently that Mexico's competition commission is becoming more open to the idea of a merger between Mexicana and Aeromexico. Mexicana attempted to acquire its rival in October 2007 but was blocked from making a bid. Crespo did not comment on whether a tie-up between the two carriers is still on the cards.
Source: Airline Business
