UPDATE: 2023/02/02 18:37 EST BY LUKAS SOUZA
A new lifeline for Aeromar?
On Thursday, Aeromar published a tweet on social media with an image of its logo and Nella's logo. Nella is a South American company owner of Amaszonas, a regional charter carrier in Paraguay and Bolivia. There's no further information regarding this development, and it is uncertain if both companies reached some sort of deal.
Simple Flying reached Nella for more information on the subject; the company wasn't immediately available.
The Mexican carrier Aeromar seems to have its days numbered. The ATR-based airline could announce an imminent cease of operations this month, according to multiple reports. Mexican pilot union leader José Alberto Gual even went public requesting people not to buy tickets from the airline as it would be impossible to know if the airline were to operate these services.
Is Aeromar going under?
Aeromar could become the third airline to fold and cease operations in 2023, after the bankruptcies of UK’s Flybe and Norway’s Flyr. On Monday, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA) published on social media that it has been informed that Aeromar management is planning to take the airline’s airplanes out of Mexico.
Additionally, the airline has canceled operations in several airports including Cancun International (CUN), Mérida International (MID), and Chetumal International (CTM). The airline is reported to have a debt of around US$600 million (around half with the Mexican government and the remaining with several entities, leasing companies, employees, providers, and more). Aeromar is on life support for months now, but it seems the time has come to let the airline go. According to reports, the pilots don’t have schedules beyond February 15.
If it ceases operations, it would be the latest of a long list of Mexican airlines that failed, including Interjet in 2020 and Mexicana de Aviación in 2010. It would also be the disappearance of the longest active Mexican airline (one would think Aeromexico should be the oldest active carrier in the country, but it is not. It briefly ceased operations in 1988, and Aeromar was launched the year prior).
A view of the airline’s operations
As of February 2023, Aeromar has scheduled 186 flights, according to data from Cirium. Compared to February 2022, that’s a 21% decrease in weekly operations. Moreover, the airline has canceled ten routes. Nonetheless, if we compare Aeromar’s current level of operations against February 2019, there’s an even bigger gap. The airline is operating 61.8% fewer flights.
The airline has only four active aircraft currently, with plenty of them parked at Mexico City International Airport (MEX).
Don’t buy tickets with Aeromar
On Thursday, captain José Gual, secretary general of Mexico’s pilot union (ASPA), said that the airline is afloat not because of the management but due to the ongoing sacrifices by the employees and the willingness of the Mexican government to avoid a new bankruptcy. ASPA represents the pilots that fly with Aeromar.
Nonetheless, the airline owes over seven billion Mexican pesos ($374.8 million), including 107 million Mexican pesos ($5.73 million) in airport fee taxes. In an interview with the local journalist Oscar Mario Beteta, captain Gual said,
“I had the opportunity to speak with the Katz, the family owner of the airline. I asked them to take responsibility of Aeromar’s bankruptcy, but instead they decided to blame the government and wait for an industrial action to file for bankruptcy. I suggest (the flying public) not to acquire a ticket with Aeromar.”
A brief history of Aeromar
Aeromar is a Mexican airline established in 1987. Its business model was to operate point-to-point routes, appealing to a more business-like flyer. The airline mostly flew from Mexico City International, offering 14 destinations, including McAllen (United States) and Havana (Cuba). Other destinations are Acapulco, Aguascalientes, Ciudad Victoria, Colima, Guadalajara, and more.
In recent times the airline operated exclusively with an ATR-based fleet. According to the Mexican government, Aeromar closed the year with six aircraft, including four ATR 72 and two ATR 42. Last year, Aeromar carried 388,148 passengers, a 48% recovery compared to pre-pandemic traffic levels.
Did you have the opportunity to fly with Aeromar? How did you find the experience? Let us know in the comments.
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