Volaris promises low-price regional flights

Regional business travel should become more attractive, while demand should grow for services, which cater to mid-level executive travelers, following the introduction of low-cost flights by Volaris Central America, expected in August.

Based in Costa Rica, the new airline will create competition for Avianca and Copa, currently the only airlines serving the region.

Bringing down the price of air travel will not be easy, since each of the six Central American countries charges taxes for aviation-related services.

On the other hand, Volaris has experience in keeping costs down.

In a review of a regular-fare, round-trip, 15-day advance booking this week by Centralamericalink.com on Expedia.com, Volaris had the lowest price of any Mexican airline for travel between Mexico City and each of Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Monterrey and Puebla.

Volaris Central America, which will use a fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft for regional travel, expects to finish its certification process in Costa Rica within the next five months.

The company is a subsidiary of Volaris, Mexico’s second biggest airline, owned by Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V., known in English as Volaris Holding Company.

In 2014, the company earned $41 million on operating revenue of $954 million.