Sudden Route Cuts Follow Months Of Work to Build Up International Flights

Mexico-based airline Volaris has cut eight routes that took passengers from Monterrey to the US. Despite the carrier’s previous effort to expand international flights, it seems that the current trend will leave few Mexico-US routes on its roster by the end of summer.

Volaris, which describes itself as an "ultra low-cost airline,” has had a fairly hot-and-cold relationship with its flights to the US. It offered only domestic flights until 2009, when it began serving Los Angeles and Oakland from Toluca and Guadalajara. Since then, Volaris has expanded its network to around 24 US airports and 100 around the world through codeshare flights with Frontier.

In mid-February, the airline revealed that it would soon be launching 30 new routes between Mexico, the US, and Central America. Among these is a highly anticipated flight from Queretaro to Los Angeles International (LAX). Volaris previously serviced this route for around a year before dropping it from its schedule in April 2018.

Though it seemed like Volaris was making a solid effort to expand its international bookings, future flight analytics show that the airline may be cutting eight popular US routes by the end of July 2025. All eight originate from Monterrey in northern Mexico and fly to major US hubs, including Los Angeles International (LAX), Chicago O'Hare International (ORD), Miami International (MIA), and Oakland International (OAK).

If the move goes through, only one Volaris route between Monterrey and the US will remain. This flight, which travels to Miami, runs once a week.

While the airline has yet to speak on its unexpected route cancellations, Volaris President and CEO Enrique Beltranena previously mentioned that traffic to the US had been somewhat low in demand due to the geopolitical climate after President Trump’s inauguration.

“To manage this, we adjusted base fares to stimulate demand and deliver healthy load factors,” Beltranena explained. “It is our expectation this is a temporary market condition, but we will continue to monitor demand patterns closely and will adjust the network accordingly.”

FMI: www.volaris.com