Frontier Airlines could soon be landing in more destinations in Mexico and Central America. The ultra-low-fare Frontier and Volaris, the ultra-low-cost airline serving Mexico, the United States, and Central America announced Tuesday the signing of a codeshare agreement. Frontier passengers could be riding Volaris jets to destinations such as Mexico City; San Jose, Costa Rica; Managua, Nicaragua; Guatemala City, Guatemala; and San Salvador, El Salvador.
This agreement – one of the first ever between ultra-low-cost carriers – will also open additional ultra-low fare travel options between Mexico and the United States.
“At Volaris we are thrilled to join Frontier as one of the first ultra-low-cost carriers to enter a codeshare agreement. We estimate that our partnership will add around 20 new destinations to our network and 80 new routes between both Mexico and the United States,” said Enrique Beltranena, Chief Executive Officer of Volaris in a statement on January 16, 2018. “Our goal is to unite families and friends on both sides of the border, and this new agreement with our partners at Frontier will allow us to expand the travel options for our audience while keeping fares low.”
Volaris currently serves destinations in the U.S., Mexico and Central America, of which some coincide with Frontier destinations. The codeshare agreement greatly enhances the potential for connecting itineraries.
“This agreement will allow us to expand upon our mission to deliver low fares and enable more people to fly,” said Barry Biffle, President and Chief Executive Officer of Frontier. “Many customers traveling between the U.S. and Mexico are forced to pay high fares to fly, and this agreement will provide lower fares to a vast majority of the U.S. and Mexico population. As the leading ultra-low-cost carrier in Mexico, Volaris is an ideal partner with which to align and we look forward to working together to deliver low fares to millions of people.”
Frontier is owned by Indigo Partners, an American private equity firm specializing in transportation investments. Volaris is a publicly traded company, but its majority shareholder is Indigo. The two carriers will each receive new jets through Indigo’s record US$49.5 billion deal with Airbus inked in November.
Other Indigo airlines include the European low-cost carrier Wizz Air and JetSMART, the ultra-low-cost Chilean airline, based in Santiago de Chile.
