Volaris to add US destinations amid optimistic outlook

Volaris plans to add new US destinations this year as it sees transborder demand recover with recent strengthening of the Mexican peso, even as the airline expects to turn in an operating loss for 2018. Volaris CE Enrique Beltranena declines to name specific US cities that will join the airline's route map, citing ongoing negotiations, but said that further details should be unveiled in about a month or so. The airline expects to grow system-wide capacity by 9-12% in 2019, with transborder service seeing higher growth than domestic, says Beltranena. However, he notes that domestic capacity growth will be off a larger base since Volaris increased domestic capacity by 14% in 2018. International capacity rose only 6% year-on-year in 2018. "We continue to see possibilities," says Beltranena of growth across the border. <br/>