VivaAerobus is seeking to acquire two to four additional Boeing 737-300s to support further network expansion in 2011.
The Mexican low-cost carrier currently operates 11 Boeing 737-300s, including four ex-AirAsia aircraft that were delivered early this year. New CEO Juan Carlos Zuazua says VivaAerobus is now in the process of mapping out the next phase of its fleet expansion plan.
"We're analysing perhaps two or four aircraft by the first quarter of next year," Zuazua told ATI on the sidelines of the Low Cost Airlines World Americas conference in Miami. "We haven't closed any deals yet but definitely we will grow next year. We wouldn't want to do it this year because this year we've already grown so much."
He adds the four 737-300s added early this year are projected to drive a steep increase in VivaAerobus' traffic from 1.5 million passengers in 2009 to 2.5 million passengers in 2010. "It's quite a big jump," he says.
Zuazua adds VivaAerobus plans to stick with the 737-300, but is considering both lease and purchase deals. He says while VivaAerobus' initial fleet of seven 737-300s are leased the four aircraft it added this year were all acquired from Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia, which has been phasing out its 737-300s in favour of new Airbus A320s.
Zuazua says it is currently a good market to both lease and buy 737-300s. "There are a lot of them out there in very good shape," he says.
VivaAerobus is based in Monterrey but late last year opened a second crew base in Guadalajara, where it has steadily been expanding. Zuazua says VivaAerobus now has seven aircraft based in Monterrey and four in Guadalajara. He says any additional aircraft would likely be split between the two bases.
He says at Monterrey VivaAerobus would likely increase capacity on existing routes next year while at Guadalajara it would continue to launch new routes.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
