Benzinga | Jan 6, 2022 04:33PM EST

Volaris Reports December 2021 Traffic Results

Volaris (the "Company") (NYSE: VLRS and BMV: VOLAR), the ultra-low-cost airline serving Mexico, the United States, Central and South America reports its December 2021 preliminary traffic results.

In December 2021, passenger demand (RPMs) in the domestic Mexican and international markets for Volaris increased 34.9% and 10.8%, respectively, as compared to December 2019. The Company capitalized on the strong market demand to add capacity (ASMs), both domestically (+35.5%) and internationally (+20.8%), while maintaining a high load factor (85.9%). In December 2021, Volaris transported 2.6 million passengers, 31% higher than the pre-pandemic levels.

For the first quarter 2022, the capacity we currently have on sale represents an ASM growth of approximately 3% compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, implying around 53% ASM growth versus the first quarter of 2021. However, as we have demonstrated since the beginning of the pandemic, we will continue to actively manage capacity and will react accordingly if we observe a deterioration in demand in our markets associated with the Omicron variant.

Commenting on December traffic figures, Volaris' President and CEO Enrique Beltranena said: "We closed the year with solid results as we continued to deploy the appropriate levels of capacity to match the strong demand in our core leisure and VFR markets."

Dec 2020 Dec 2019 FY FY Dec FY 2020 2019 2021 Variation Variation 2021 Var. Var.

RPMs (million, scheduled &charter)

Domestic 1,795 40.3% 34.9% 17,470 60.3% 17.5%

International 683 40.1% 10.8% 6,332 71.3% 2.8%

Total 2,478 40.3% 27.2% 23,802 63.1% 13.2%

ASMs (million, scheduled &charter)

Domestic 2,017 29.9% 35.5% 20,099 49.5% 19.0%

International 868 24.6% 20.8% 7,997 65.6% 5.1%

Total 2,885 28.2% 30.7% 28,097 53.7% 14.7%

Load Factor (%, scheduled, RPMs/ASMs)

Domestic 89.0% 6.6 pp (0.4) pp 86.9% 5.9 (1.1) pp pp

International 78.7% 8.7 pp (7.1) pp 79.2% 2.6 (1.8) pp pp

Total 85.9% 7.4 pp (2.3) pp 84.7% 4.8 (1.1) pp pp

Passengers (thousand, scheduled& charter)

Domestic 2,094 45.2% 36.2% 19,836 62.7% 12.4%

International 495 45.4% 14.2% 4,569 81.5% 5.7%

Total 2,589 45.2% 31.4% 24,405 65.9% 11.1%

The information included in this report has not been audited and it does not provide information on the company's future performance. Volaris' future performance depends on many factors, and it cannot be inferred that any period's performance or its comparison year over year will be an indicator of a similar performance in the future.