Ryanair founder to start up Mexican airline

The founder of Europe's largest no-frills airline, Ryanair, is planning a new low-cost airline for Mexico, due to start in the next couple of months.

Reports suggest that the airline, which will be named VivaAeroBus, will begin flights in September or October but it was not clear which destinations it would serve other than its main headquarters at Monterrey International Airport.

The venture will be a joint project between Dr Tony Ryan, whose family started up the first European low-cost airline in 1985, and Mexican bus company IAMSA. Ryan is also a significant investor in holiday airline Allegiant Air and Singapore’s Tiger Airways.

It hopes to be flying five planes by the end of 2006 and carry one million passengers in its first 12 months of operations by undercutting rivals' prices by up to 50 percent.

It is this policy which is prompting a change of direction among Mexico's larger carriers, as they move away from domestic flights and focus on their international routes.

However, VivaAeroBus has hinted that it will also focus on flights between the U.S. and Mexico as the crux of its business, making for a competitive environment likely to yield attractive fares for passengers.

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