Mexican low-cost airline Viva Aerobus will delay the opening of new routes from Felipe Ángeles International Airport (NLU) and Toluca International Airport (TLC), the company said yesterday.
According to the company, the rescheduling is due to the delay in the deliveries of new aircraft by Airbus. The European manufacturer is currently experiencing problems in its supply chain and in the availability of components from key suppliers, such as engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney.
New routes from Felipe Ángeles International Airport
Last May, Viva Aerobus had announced five new routes from the new airport serving Mexico City. The company planned to start flying from there to Acapulco (ACA), Cancún (CUN), Oaxaca (OAX), Puerto Escondido (PXM) and Havana (HAV) as of July 15th.
However, it now announced that operations to Acapulco, Oaxaca and Puerto Escondido will not begin until September 1st. On the other hand, services to Havana, the airline’s first and only international destination from AIFA announced so far, have no confirmed starting date.
Flights between Felipe Ángeles International Airport and Cancún will start next Friday, July 15th, as it was scheduled, according to the company.
New routes from Toluca International Airport
On the other hand, it had also announced two new routes from Toluca as of July 15th. The schedule included the launch of flights to Cancún (CUN) and Monterrey (MTY). Now, the services will be inaugurated on September 23th. On the same day, the route between Toluca and Mérida (MID), which had been scheduled to begin on September 9th, will be launched. Operations to Puerto Vallarta (PVR) will not begin until November.
The company should receive eight new aircraft by the end of the year. Back in June, it had already stated that Airbus had delayed deliveries due to lack of supplies. The decision forced the operator to temporarily suspend its flights to Medellín, Colombia. It currently has a fleet of 20 Airbus A320s, 20 A320neo, 9 A321s and 11 A321neo. The average age of the aircraft is five years olds.
See also: Airbus and Boeing expect supply chain problems to remain through 2023