Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris is set to sign a codeshare agreement with Panama airline Copa Airlines.
This is according to a Volaris executive who spoke at the company's quarterly revenue call on April 28th, executive vice president Holger Blankenstein has announced that he will “sign a new codeshare” with Copa on April 29th.
Commercial collaboration will “expand connectivity between Mexico and Latin America” through the Copa hub in Panama City, connecting Copa's network to more than 40 cities in Mexico, expanding access to Central and South America to Volaris customers.
Blankenstein says that Mexican disc counter's existing business in Central America remains intact.
“Our Central American business is very focused on VFR (visiting friends and relatives) traffic between Central America and the US, which will continue to serve directly,” he says. “The Copa Relations are built as a bilateral codeshare focused on Mexico, North America and South America.
In addition to its new relationship with Copa, Volaris has an existing US codeshare agreement, which has scrapped Frontier Airlines and Spanish Iberia.
Executives said during the call that Volaris has seen worse demand for the core VFR market, prompting them to lower their annual passenger capacity forecast.
Meanwhile, domestic leisure trips to Mexican beach destinations and southbound traffic from the US are stable.
Volaris reports a loss of $51 million in the first quarter compared to its $33 million profit in the first three months of 2024.
Revenue fell nearly 12% year-on-year to $645 million.
