Face-to-face: Nieves Rodríguez, Aeromexico country manager, UK & Ireland
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How has the Mexico City-London Heathrow route performed since you launched it two years ago?
The route has enjoyed a favourable maturation period with acceptable load factors. The number of passengers carried in 2014 grew 31% compared to 2013, our first year of operations. The introduction of our Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the route has driven operating costs down while also allowing us to increase our capacity for the cargo market.
You plan to operate five flights weekly between Mexico City and Heathrow by June. Where does the demand come for this service?
The United Kingdom is Mexico’s third-largest tourism source market after the United States and Canada. Aeromexico has experienced growth in the number of passengers travelling to Mexico City and its more than 40 domestic destinations, especially the beach and business markets in Mexico.
How important is the UK market to Aeromexico’s growth plans going forward? Will you add more services and routes?
The carrier is focused on further consolidating the London-Mexico City route based on its strategy to connect Mexico with the world through its main hub in Mexico City, as it looks forward to better conditions in the market that will allow it to offer a daily service to London.
What’s Aeromexico’s USP in the UK market in terms of routes offered?
The Aeromexico route network offers nonstop service from Mexico City to more than 30 destinations in the Americas, with more than 10 connecting hubs that passengers can take advantage of and travel to a wide variety of leisure and business destinations in Mexico and Latin America. There is no other airline in Mexico that offers this type of network and connectivity. Aeromexico is the largest Mexican airline providing service to major destinations in the region with its codeshare partners in the Americas, Alaska Airlines, Avianca, Copa Airlines, and its strategic business partner and fellow SkyTeam member, Delta Air Lines.
How will the recently announced partnership with Delta further develop the airline’s network strength and what new routes will it offer the UK market?
The recently announced partnership will create a new competitor between the US and Mexico market as Delta and Aeromexico tap into each other’s networks. Delta will gain increased access to the Aeromexico hubs in Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara and the domestic destinations it serves beyond those points, plus the nonstop cross-border flights Aeromexico plans to add to its existing route network. This partnership will also enhance the UK’s market access to Mexico from gateways served by Delta in the United States, as well as access to destinations in the US with Aeromexico’s nonstop flight from London to Mexico City.
You operate the 787 Dreamliner on London routes – how does this set you apart from the competition?
Serving this route with our Dreamliner 787-8 sets us apart as the airline with the most modern fleet in Latin America, offering passengers value-added technological benefits.
What is different and/or new in terms of Aeromexico’s on-board products and services/passenger experience?
We now offer in-flight Wi-Fi services and just began airing Live TV (Sports 24 and CNN) on the Dreamliner 787, for a three-month trial period.
How does your SkyTeam membership benefit the UK market?
Aeromexico’s 2015 summer schedule includes five weekly flights to Terminal 4 in London Heathrow, the base for most SkyTeam airlines members serving the London market. Terminal 4 is also home to the exclusive SkyTeam Lounge where luxury awaits Aeromexico Clase Premier, SkyTeam Elite Plus, and First and Business Class passengers. The two-level SkyTeam Lounge occupies more than 1,600 square meters and offers space for more than 300 passengers, with luxurious amenities such as an oxygen bar, a wine bar, showers and full-body massage chairs, a quiet area and a yoga room.
What are you doing to raise awareness among the UK travel trade about Aeromexico’s offering?
We have launched a wide variety of promotions in recent months including distributing e-flyers with discounted fares, connectivity maps of México and our destinations around the world. We have promoted our fourth frequency, which began operations in April 2015, and the fifth frequency, which launches this month. We have also been promoting the experience of flying the most modern airplane available in the market, the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and the premiere cabin for the business travellers, which has a comfortable flat bed and a new entertainment system. Aeromexico has improved the benefits for its clients in order to increase the loyalty of the companies through discounted fares in the business cabin, flexible schedules and instant savings.
What other Aeromexico news or initiatives would you like to highlight to the UK trade?
We would like to highlight our great benefits for companies and the huge connectivity from Heathrow Airport to México City and the entire country, which offers a lot of pleasure destinations. We would continue growing in international markets, our recent new routes are Managua, Panama, Toronto and Boston. We will also have a third flight to Canada in December of this year, when we start operations to Vancouver. Our fleet renovation programme for the next years will allow Aeromexico to have seven Boeing 787 Dreamliners and we hope that in the future we will have two more at the end of the year. The acquisition of these new aircraft was part of the $11m fleet investment announced three years ago.
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