Viva Aerobus Launches New Cancun-Quito Route

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The Mexican ultra-low-cost carrier Viva Aerobus has announced a new international route connecting Cancun International Airport (CUN) with Quito International Airport (UIO) in Ecuador. This new service will begin on June 16.

A new route from Cancun

Starting on June 16 with three flights per week, Viva Aerobus will become the first carrier to operate directly between Quito and Cancun. Ecuador will become the airline’s fifth foreign country served, as Viva Aerobus already flies to Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and the United States. Niels Olsen, Ecuador’s Minister of Tourism, said in a statement,

“Welcome to Viva Aerobus! We are convinced that the start of operations on this new route reaffirms our confidence in our country. The low-cost business model is dynamic, allowing for greater air connectivity between both destinations (Quito and Cancun) and providing consumer benefits.”

Viva Aerobus expects to offer around 58,000 seats per year on this new route. The flight will last about three hours and 27 minutes and cover a distance of 2,518 kilometers, or 1,360 nautical miles.

Viva Aerobus’ international boom from Cancun

As of March 2023, Viva Aerobus operates 22 weekly international flights from Cancun International. While the airline only serves one destination in the United States from this Caribbean destination, it flies to three Latin American countries.

According to data from Cirium, Viva Aerobus operates daily flights to Bogota International (BOG) in Colombia, eight flights per week (twice on Friday) to Havana International (HAV), and between one and two weekly flights to Cincinnati (US), Camagüey, Holguín, and Santa Clara in Cuba, and Managua in Nicaragua.

Compared to February 2020, the month prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Viva Aerobus has increased its international connectivity from Cancun by 633%. Back then, the airline only flew to Camagüey and Cincinnati.

Without a doubt, Viva Aerobus would be interested in adding more flights to the United States from Cancun. Eight of the ten cities with the largest number of international flights to and from Cancun are in the United States (Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis, Atlanta, New York, Houston, Denver, and Los Angeles).

Nonetheless, Viva Aerobus is impaired from launching new services to the United States due to Mexico being downgraded to Category 2 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This has been the case since May 2021, almost two years ago.

Viva Aerobus is also against cabotage

Earlier this week, Aeromexico, Volaris, and Mexico’s National Air Transport Chamber (or CANAERO) released statements condemning the law reform which would authorize unilateral cabotage in the country. This would effectively allow foreign carriers to enter Mexico’s domestic market.

Viva Aerobus released a statement later that day. The ultra-low-cost carrier also condemned the law project. It said that the Mexican government should focus on recovering Category 1 status with the FAA, adding that unilateral cabotage would only harm the Mexican airline industry. Similar to Volaris, Viva Aerobus said that any cabotage project should include a reciprocity clause.

Are you excited about Viva Aerobus’ new route? Would you like to be onboard the flight between Cancun and Quito? Let us know in the comments below.