Airbus resumed the exploration of potential Latin American customers for the A220, which so far has not won any orders in the region and where Embraer’s E-Jets family plays very strongly within the segment of up to 150 seats.
On March 30, the aircraft with registration HB-JCU belonging to Swiss landed at Mexico City International Airport (MEX/AICM), to be presented today to the various executives of Grupo Aeromexico, on the way to the International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE) to be held in Santiago de Chile from April 5 to 10.
In 2019 Aeromexico had shown interest in replacing its 32 Embraer 190 Aeromexico Connect fleet with Boeing 737 MAX or Embraer E2 aircraft. During the Chapter 11 exit process it refloated that idea again.
Finalizando este gran vuelo, histórico, una página más en la que los trabajadores de la #Aviacion somos parte fundamental ¡Vienen tiempos mejores para todos!🎊🎉 Un gran ✈️ #A220 #Airbus para una gran aerolínea @Aeromexico ✈️ @ASSA_MX @assa_prensa #AmamosVolar✈️ @SCT_mx @STPS_mx pic.twitter.com/fnrPIijjcS
— RicardoDelValle (@DelvalleASSA) March 31, 2022
The company has a long history with the U.S. manufacturer, but it is not implausible that it could also opt for the A220. It should be noted that its commercial partner and shareholder is Delta Air Lines, which owns 54 A220-100/-300s and has another 41 aircraft still to be delivered.
In addition, Aeromexico and Delta Airlines inaugurated in 2014 their TechOps Mexico Aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Center in Queretaro, where they will service their aircraft and third parties creating the possibility of a standardized overhaul of both companies’ fleets.
According to the manufacturer, the Airbus A220 has sufficient range to operate as far as Peru and Canada.
Airbus in Mexico
Airbus dominates in Mexico, mainly thanks to Volaris, Viva Aerobus and, recently, Mas Air Cargo, with a market share of almost 60% of the commercial aircraft fleet in service in the country.
Volaris has three A319s, 40 A320ceo, 38 A320neo, ten A321ceo and seven A321neo, with 48 A320neo and 40 A321neo deliveries pending. Its rival, VivaAerobus, has 19 A320ceo, twenty A320neo, nine A321ceo and nine A321neo.
Then, in the cargo market, AeroUnion has three A300-600 freighters. This year’s revelation was MAS Air, which will incorporate two Airbus A330-200 P2F (passenger-to-freighter conversion), the first of its kind in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The A220 is a repeat visitor to Mexico
Between November 2021 and April 2022, Air Canada will operate from Montreal (YUL) to Puerto Vallarta (PVR), and from Halifax (YHZ) to Cancun (CUN), making it the first carrier to operate the A220 in Mexico.
As of June 2022, the model would return to Mexico with jetBlue, operating between Raleigh/Durham (RDU) and Cancun once a week.
Both companies replaced the Airbus A319 and A320 that were recurrent aircraft on these links, giving the possibility for other routes with the same models to be replaced by the A220.
