Volaris rents out iPods

[Pieter C. 5]

Mexican Airline Volaris Rents iPods

 

February 19, 2007

Mexican airline Volaris' flight attendants now serve salted snacks, carbonated drinks and, for about USD$5, iPods.

 

By renting the iconic music and video device to passengers, low-cost airline Volaris has got the jump on US giants, such Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, who have been talking for months about offering iPod seat connections.

 

"We're the first to use iPods. We like it because no one else has it," said public relations officer Alfonso Collantes.

 

Volaris began handing out the 30 Gigabyte devices free on February 8, but will soon start charging 50 pesos per flight.

 

The MP3 players are packed with Mexican TV shows and popular music, but the airline plans to load US sitcoms and other music genres.

 

The iPods are not integrated into seat-back video screens, like the US carriers are planning, but have the advantage of being available now.

 

"We just went out and bought a bunch of iPods and started giving them out to passengers," said Collantes.

 

Apple has sold more than 70 million iPods since their introduction in 2001. The iPod commands a 72 percent share of the US market for MP3 players.

 

Volaris, owned by billionaire Carlos Slim and media giant Televisa, said in January it will add a dozen new routes and triple revenues this year.

 

Most Mexicans depend on buses for long-distance transportation, but discount airlines are trying to attract passengers by offering tickets at prices similar to bus fares.

 

(Reuters)

 

Wonder how many are 'kept' by the passengers after the flight

 

[Y. J. Foo 0]

Wonder how many are 'kept' by the passengers after the flight

 

Heck I was thinking about the same as well, but in any case you might not want to brag publicly that you have an iPod from Volaris...

 

Still I'd see how this will turn out later.

[Andrew Ong 1]

That's a good offer for one small Mexican LCC

Edited February 21, 2007 by Andrew Ong

[Mayer 0]

That's a good offer for one small Mexican LCC

 

Small airline but growing fast Andrew: in its first year of operations it reportedly carried 1 million passengers (figure to be confirmed).

 

At the end of 2006, Volaris had 6 Airbus A319 aircraft, on January 2007 it received two more and will have a total of 14 by year's end (that is, eight A319 will be delivered to this Mexican airline throughout the year).

 

Volaris is also opening new destinations, for instance they have opened 4 new routes in 2007 and will start other five new routes during March-April.

 

Best regards.

[Pieter C. 5]

Volaris Sees Market Share Rising

 

March 16, 2007

Mexican discount airline Volaris expects its share of the domestic market to eventually rise to about 20 percent and the country's low-cost carriers to take more passengers from larger airlines such as Aeromexico and Mexicana, Volaris' chief executive said.

 

Volaris began flying in March 2006 and by September was carrying 6 percent of Mexico's domestic passengers.

 

It has gained passengers in its first year of business with attention grabbing price campaigns but chief executive Enrique Beltranena thinks his company still has substantial room to grow.

 

"We should be at 18 to 20 percent market share. It is a lot," he said in an interview on Thursday.

 

Together, the country's five low-cost carriers increased their market share by more than 15 percentage points in 2006, according to regulators.

 

Aeromexico and Mexicana have fought back by cutting ticket prices but have been hampered by high labor costs and inefficient fleet structures.

 

"The legacy carriers have tried to act like low-cost carriers without having the cost structure. It's not sustainable in the long-run and if it continues, the low-cost carriers will take more than 40 percent of the market," said Beltranena.

 

(Reuters)

 

[Azuddin 1]

American Airlines used to lend out portable DVD player to first and business class.