Mexicana de Aviación, the state-owned airline created by the administration of President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, has been reporting weak operational results since it began its flights late last year.
According to a report by the Mexican newspaper El Financiero, citing data from the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC), in June the company transported 21,500 passengers across 270 operations, averaging 78 passengers per flight (although the data does not specify the type of aircraft used, it’s worth noting that their Boeing 737-800s have a capacity of 176 passengers and the ERJ-145s leased from TAR have a capacity of 50 passengers).
Considering the first half of 2024, Mexicana transported 119,534 passengers on 2,461 flights. In contrast, Viva Aerobús, the leader in the domestic market, averages 167 passengers per flight, the same figure as Volaris, although with 11.5 and 9.7 million passengers transported between January and June respectively (focusing only on regular domestic services).
Mexicana de Aviación’s network covers 18 cities in Mexico served from Felipe Ángeles International Airport: Acapulco, Campeche, Chetumal, Ciudad Victoria, Guadalajara, Ixtepec, Mazatlán, Mérida, Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, Palenque, Puerto Vallarta, Tijuana, Tulum, Uruapan, San José del Cabo, Villahermosa, and Zihuatanejo.
Its fleet consists of three Boeing 737-800s from the Mexican Air Force, along with two ERJ-145s from TAR Aerolíneas under a wet-leasing agreement.
Earlier this year, the President of Mexico had already admitted that Mexicana de Aviación would not be profitable in the short term, so the focus would shift to diversifying the offering and providing flights to cities without connections from Mexico City.
In June, Mexicana de Aviación placed an order for 20 E2 aircraft from Embraer, which includes 10 E190-E2s and 10 E195-E2s, with deliveries expected to begin in the second quarter of 2025. The state-owned airline opted for a high-density, single-class configuration, with 108 seats in the E190-E2 and 132 in the E195-E2.
