Private company

Volaris

Logo: volaris, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

Mexican low-cost airline

Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación S.A.B. de C.V., operating as Volaris, is a Mexican ultra low-cost airline based in Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City, with its operating bases in Cancún, Culiacán, Guadalajara, León/Del Bajío, Mexicali, Mexico City, Monterrey, and Tijuana. It is Mexico's largest airline by transported passengers and serves domestic and international destinations within the Americas. It is the leading airline in the Mexican domestic airline market with a market share of 42%.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

2005Founded1
  • HeadquartersMexico City1
  • Founded inMexico City1
  • Websitewww.volaris.com
  • Listed onNew York Stock Exchange (VLRS)1
  • Legal formSociedad anónima bursátil de capital variable3
  • LEI549300G8NLCMP9Z44X523
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusIssued and current3
  • Registered addressAvenida Antonio Dovali Jaime No. 70, 01210 Mexico City, Mexico3
  • Registered withTax Administration Agency, CVA051027IF83
Airbus A320-232(w) ‘N520VL’ Volaris (27824039144)
Photo: Alan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons6

Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación S.A.B. de C.V., operating as Volaris, is a Mexican ultra low-cost airline based in Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City, with its operating bases in Cancún, Culiacán, Guadalajara, León/Del Bajío, Mexicali, Mexico City, Monterrey, and Tijuana. It is Mexico's largest airline by transported passengers and serves domestic and international destinations within the Americas. It is the leading airline in the Mexican domestic airline market with a market share of 42%.2

Corporate structure

Volaris sits at the top of its group. 2 entities, 2 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

The pre-operations phase, the founding of the legal entities and setting up of the required infrastructure, started in August 2005 under the name Vuela Airlines. The idea for the airline was formed from the proposed "Vuelamex" project. Major initial shareholders of the company were Grupo Televisa (the world's biggest Spanish-language media conglomerate), Inbursa (an insurance company owned by multi-billionaire Carlos Slim), TACA Airlines, and the Discovery Americas Fund. Each of these partners invested 25% of the initial cost of activities, or 100 million USD.

In July 2010, it was announced that Televisa and Inbursa had sold their stake in Volaris, leaving the ownership of Volaris as follows: TACA Airlines with Roberto and Maria Cristina Kriete (50%), Investment fund Discovery Americas (over 25%), and Indigo Partners: Fund led by former America West CEO Bill Franke.

Ticket sales started in January 2006. Following the delivery of the airline's first aircraft, the first non-commercial flight was operated in February 2006. Scheduled revenue flights were launched on March 13, 2006, with the inaugural flight being between Toluca and Tijuana.

Volaris began service to Mexico City in September 2010 after absorbing flight routes from two defunct Mexican airlines, Aerocalifornia and Mexicana. In March 2011, the airline announced that its hub in Toluca would move to Guadalajara.

In June 2012, the airline launched a frequent flyer program called VClub. In June 2012, PayPal became a payment alternative for the airline, enabling customers to purchase tickets directly from the airline's website. In September 2012, Volaris announced a codeshare partnership with a German airline, Condor. Passengers of Condor are able to fly to more international destinations.

On March 13, 2013, the airline celebrated its seventh anniversary, offering passengers 70% off all flights, and has done this every year since then. Volaris announced the creation of a subsidiary, Volaris Costa Rica, in March 2016. The subsidiary, based at Juan Santamaría International Airport in the Costa Rican capital of San José, started operations in November 2016.

As of 2022, Volaris has faced multiple class-action lawsuits due to failure to properly refund flights canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In December 2025, Volaris and competitor Viva have signed an agreement to form a holding company, creating the largest low-cost airline group in Mexico. The deal aims to lower fleet costs, while both airlines would maintain their brands.

Read the full text

In 2025, Mexico's Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) authorized Volaris to operate 10 aircraft with foreign pilots between December 1, 2025, and January 12, 2026; the Association of Airline Pilots of Mexico (ASPA) claim the decision breaches Mexico's Constitution and Civil Aviation Law.

From Wikipedia’s article on Volaris, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Products and brands

International operations

In November 2008, Volaris announced a codeshare agreement with U.S.-based low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines. In April 2009, Volaris announced the start of U.S.-bound flights out of Toluca and Guadalajara (initially to Los Angeles and Oakland) to feed into the hubs of Southwest Airlines. After Mexicana de Aviación's shutdown, Volaris took over many of Mexicana's international destinations and flights from its focus city, Guadalajara. The airline began using Guadalajara International Airport as an American gateway hub in late 2011.

In February 2013, Volaris and Southwest stopped codesharing. Southwest decided to focus more on the Mexican market with AirTran Airways, instead of codesharing with Volaris. In January 2018, Volaris announced a codeshare agreement with American low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines.

In June 2018, after Donald Trump signed an order ending the family separation policy, Volaris announced that they would offer free flights for children to reunite with family members who had been deported.

Destinations

Volaris operates scheduled flights to Mexico and elsewhere in the Americas from its hubs at Guadalajara International Airport in Guadalajara, Mexico City International Airport in Mexico City, and Tijuana International Airport in Tijuana. Focus cities include Cancún International Airport in Cancún, Bajío International Airport in León, and Monterrey International Airport in Monterrey.

Read the full text

Operating bases

Volaris operates crew bases at the following airports:

Cancún

Culiacán

Guadalajara

León/Del Bajío

Mexico City

Monterrey

Morelia

Tijuana

Codeshare agreements

Volaris codeshares with the following airlines:

Copa Airlines

Frontier Airlines

Hainan Airlines

Iberia

Turkish Airlines

Interline agreements

Condor

Fleet

Current fleet

As of October 2025, Volaris operates an all-Airbus A320 family fleet composed of the following aircraft:

Fleet development

Volaris became the first North American operator of the Airbus A320neo aircraft in September 2016.

In November 2017, during the Dubai Airshow, Indigo Partners announced an order for 430 aircraft of the Airbus A320neo family of which 80 will be for Volaris as follows: 46 Airbus A320neo aircraft and 34 Airbus A321neo aircraft.

In November 2021 during the Dubai Airshow, Volaris announced an order for 39 Airbus A321neo. An existing order for 20 Airbus A320neo aircraft was converted into A321neo.

On June 20, 2023, during the Paris Air Show, Volaris announced an order for 25 Airbus A321neo aircraft.

From Wikipedia’s article on Volaris, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Subsidiaries and ownership

Owners

Subsidiaries

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. Sep 18, 2013Went public Listed on NYSE1
  2. 2005Founded Founded in Mexico City1

Held by these funds

The largest holders among investment managers' 13F reports for the quarter ending Jun 30, 2026, the top 25 of 75. Change is in shares since the quarter before.

FundSharesValueShare of the fundChange
Indigo Partners LLC21,257,566$199.2M44.0%No change
Wellington Management Group Llp4,619,543$43.3M0.0%−68,763
Thomist Capital Management, LP1,754,714$16.4M6.1%+215,620
Long Focus Capital Management, LLC1,640,000$15.4M0.6%No change
Teewinot Capital Advisers, L.L.C.1,495,062$14.0M1.0%No change
Morgan Stanley1,196,606$11.2M0.0%−328,951
Discovery Capital Management, LLC / Ct964,171$9.0M0.4%No change
Goldman Sachs Group Inc775,665$7.3M0.0%+302,081
American Century Companies Inc767,690$7.2M0.0%+86,125
Walleye Capital LLC715,407$6.7M0.0%+25,793
Bank Of America Corp /de/644,547$6.0M0.0%+55,566
Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership491,984$4.6M0.0%+261,330
Ancient Art, L.P.406,139$3.8M0.8%No change
Jpmorgan Chase & Co318,975$3.0M0.0%+291,263
Barclays PLC263,767$2.5M0.0%+89,273
Diametric Capital, LP252,959$2.4M0.3%+13,130
Jump Financial, LLC250,998$2.4M0.0%+24,198
Empowered Funds, LLC246,860$2.3M0.0%+94,443
Jane Street Group, LLC239,569$2.2M0.0%+112,183
Dimensional Fund Advisors LP229,532$2.2M0.0%−46,752
Diversify Advisory Services, LLC212,240$1.7M0.0%New
Diversify Wealth Management, LLC212,240$1.7M0.0%+32,112
Bnp Paribas Financial Markets149,800$1.4M0.0%+19,025
Birnam Oak Advisors, LP130,158$1.2M0.2%+55,000
M&T Bank Corp126,915$1.2M0.0%−5,865

13F reports cover disclosed long positions in U.S. stocks only.

Members of Congress who traded it

1 trades disclosed by members of Congress. “Vs S&P since” is the stock’s change since the trade minus the S&P 500’s.

DateMemberTradeAmountVs S&P sinceFiling
Sep 29, 2025Debbie Wasserman SchultzDemocratic, HouseSale$1,118+28.3%Report

Members report amounts as ranges, not exact figures. Returns are price-only (no dividends).

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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