Aeromexico forges ahead with ambitious growth plans in 2016
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Aeromexico will grow capacity on its UK and European routes by 28% in 2016 as the airline looks to capitalise on strong demand from the region’s business travel community.
The Mexican flag carrier will introduce a sixth daily service from London Heathrow, increase frequencies from Madrid from nine to 11 weekly, and on May 29, will mark the launch of its inaugural Amsterdam service with flights running three times weekly from Schiphol International Airport to its hub at Mexico City.
“Europe is the leading region [globally] for growth for Aeromexico in 2016,” confirmed the airline’s vice president commercial global sales, Jorge Goytortua, in an exclusive interview with TDUK this week.
“We ended 2015 with 438,000 passengers in Europe – up 13% on 2014 – and with an additional capacity of 28% planned for the marketplace in 2016, we expect passenger numbers [from Europe] to reach 500,000.”
Goytortua said the new Amsterdam service presented strong opportunities for passengers from UK regional airports such as Manchester and Glasgow to travel with Aeromexico via the Dutch aviation hub by leveraging the airline’s partnership with fellow Sky Team members, Air France and KLM.
“We have access to the entire KLM network, which is very important in Europe, so we will use that to connect to the Amsterdam market,” said Goytortua.
“Factor in our connections with Air Europa in Madrid and our Sky Team bilateral alliances provide us with very extensive network coverage.”
It’s a similar story in Mexico where passengers can connect to 46 domestic destinations served by the carrier.
“The opportunity to sell our network in Mexico and Latin America [to the European market] is key for us,” noted Goytortua.
“We have also been very aggressive in our expansion worldwide, with five international routes launched last year.”
This enhanced local and global network coverage was one of the key factors driving growth out of the UK market, he said.
“We grew by 61% in the UK in 2015 with passenger numbers increasing to 83,500 compared to 52,000 in 2014. We also increased our load factor to 78% [on the London Heathrow to Mexico City services], all of which is quite remarkable,” Goytortua revealed.
“It shows the market is committed to Aeromexico and that we have the right seat capacity in the market place. It also shows the strength of our connections across Mexico and Latin America.
“We have brought a lot to the UK market, not only in terms of frequencies but our outstanding product too.”
Back in 2013 Aeromexico announced the largest expansion plan for any company in Mexico when it committed to purchasing 100 Boeing aircraft – 90 B737 Max plus 10 B787 Dreamliners – to the tune of US$11billion.
The Dreamliners serve the Heathrow route and Aeromexico will receive more deliveries of this next-generation aircraft in 2016 in order to continue its expansion in the European market, said Goytortua.
“We are offering a superior product to what the market currently offers, on board the most modern technologically-advanced aircraft in the world, and we are really thrilled with the results,” he said.
He attributed UK market growth to business travellers preferring Aeromexico’s aircraft and on-board product and services to those of its direct competitors.
“We are now working to introduce more premium services for our Premier Class (business class passengers),” said Goytortua.
In 2015 the airline signed famous Mexican chef Enrique Olvera to create new menus and in November, introduced a chauffeur car service in London that business class passengers can book 28 hours prior to departure.
Goytortua said Aeromexico’s next move was to roll out its loyalty programme for small- and medium-sized companies to “help further penetrate the corporate market”.
“All of these extra services help to differentiate us in the marketplace,” he added.
FAST FACTS
- Aeromexico commenced flights from London Heathrow to Mexico City in December 2012;
- Aeromexico will add a sixth weekly service on the route for three months from June 2016;
- The route, which flies from Heathrow’s Terminal 4, is served by the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 32 seats in Premier Class (business class) and 211 seats in economy;
- New routes from Mexico City in 2016 – Santo Domingo (four flights weekly from March) and Amsterdam (three flights weekly from May).
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