The Mexican legacy carrier Aeromexico continues to grow its traffic numbers in 2023 versus pre-pandemic times. Up until April 2023, the airline received 7.72 million passengers, a 14% growth versus 2019.

Growing versus previous years

Last year, Aeromexico posted traffic numbers above pre-pandemic levels. That was a remarkable feat for the airline which had only recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The flag carrier took advantage of Mexico’s swift recovery after the pandemic, which also saw Volaris and Viva Aerobus grow their traffic figures by double-digit.

Photo: Daniel Martínez Garbuno | Simple Flying.

In 2023, Grupo Aeromexico remains on track to continue growing. Between January and April, Aeromexico carried 7.72 million passengers. That’s a 31.8% growth versus 2022 levels and a 14% growth versus 2019 levels prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Aeromexico had an 81.0% load factor in this period, a 3.8 percentage points increase versus last year.

As of May 2022, Aeromexico offers about 2,400 weekly departures from 55 destinations. Mexico City International Airport (MEX) is the airline’s main hub, from where it operates 1,150 weekly departures. Other important airports are Cancun (126 weekly departures), Guadalajara (119), and Monterrey (113). From the last two, Aeromexico offers long-haul flights to Madrid.

Aeromexico opening a new international route

On May 2, Aeromexico opened a new international service between Mexico and the United States. The company began flying from the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (NLU) to Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH), becoming the first company to operate from this new Mexico City hub to the United States.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying.

Aeromexico was allowed to operate this new service to Houston despite Mexico continuing to be downgraded to Category 2 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This was possible because the FAA did not consider the Felipe Ángeles-Houston service as a new route. Instead, Aeromexico dropped its weekly capacity from Mexico City International Airport and redistributed seven weekly departures to the Felipe Ángeles.

With the launch of this new service, the Felipe Ángeles now has direct connectivity to five countries in the Americas. These are Cuba (through Viva Aerobus’ flight to Havana), the Dominican Republic (Arajet’s service to Santo Domingo), Panama (Copa Airlines flies to Tocumen International), the United States, and Venezuela (through Conviasa’s service to Caracas). Overall, the airport has 19 weekly international services as of May 2023.

Aeromexico, the largest airline at Mexico City International

The oldest airline currently active in Mexico is also the largest player at Mexico City International, according to a recent report. In 2022, Aeromexico led the number of passengers at MEX, carrying 19.7 million passengers out of the 46.3 million that passed through the hub overall last year. Therefore, Aeromexico had a 42% market share at MEX. Other key airlines at MEX include Volaris, Viva Aerobus, American Airlines, and United Airlines. Volaris carried about 10.5 million passengers to and from Mexico City. The ultra-low-cost carrier held a 22.6% market share of carried passengers, while Viva Aerobus had an 18.1% share. American Airlines had a 2.7% share and United Airlines 2.3%.

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