Earnings call transcript: Volaris Q3 2025 sees stable revenues amid strategic shifts

Volaris, Mexico’s largest airline with a market capitalization of $834 million, reported its third-quarter earnings for 2025, revealing a net profit of $6 million and earnings per share of $0.05. Despite a 4% year-over-year decline in total operating revenues to $784 million, the company maintained a robust EBITDA margin of 33.6%. The stock saw a slight uptick, with a 1.45% increase, closing at $31.46. According to InvestingPro analysis, the stock appears undervalued based on its Fair Value calculation, with analysts setting a consensus high target of $0.98. The airline continues to focus on expanding its low-cost model and enhancing customer service through digital innovations.

Key Takeaways

• Volaris reported a net profit of $6 million, with EPS at $0.05.
• Total operating revenues decreased by 4% year-over-year to $784 million.
• The company launched new customer service initiatives, including AI agents.
• ASM growth was below guidance, at 4.6% compared to the expected 6%.
• The stock price increased by 1.45% following the earnings release.

Company Performance

Volaris demonstrated resilience in its business model amid challenging market conditions. The airline’s ultra-low-cost carrier strategy helped it maintain profitability despite a decline in revenue. The company’s focus on digital channels for customer service and the introduction of new products like the Altitude loyalty program and Premium Plus seating have been pivotal in enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue: $784 million, down 4% year-over-year
• EBITDA: $264 million, with a margin of 33.6%
• Net profit: $6 million, or $0.05 earnings per ADS
• CASM: $0.079, virtually flat year-over-year
• CASM ex-fuel: $0.0548, up 2% year-over-year

Outlook & Guidance

Looking ahead, Volaris expects ASM growth of 6-8% for 2026 and anticipates an EBITDA margin of 32-33% for 2025. The airline plans to expand its fleet with 12-13 new Airbus aircraft deliveries in 2026 and has scheduled 17 aircraft re-deliveries. With a beta of 1.42, investors should note the stock’s higher volatility compared to the market. The company remains optimistic about improving cross-border travel demand and expects engine groundings to reduce significantly by the end of 2026. For detailed growth projections and comprehensive analysis, access the full Pro Research Report available exclusively on InvestingPro.

Executive Commentary

Enrique Beltranena, CEO of Volaris, emphasized the strength of the company’s business model, stating, "Volaris continues to prove the strength and adaptability of our ultra-low-cost carrier model." He reassured stakeholders of the company’s disciplined growth strategy, adding, "We will continue to control growth with discipline."

Risks and Challenges

• Economic Uncertainty: Potential macroeconomic pressures could impact demand.
• Capacity Management: Maintaining rational capacity growth in the domestic market.
• Supply Chain: Aircraft deliveries and engine groundings could affect operational capabilities.
• Market Competition: Intensified competition in the low-cost carrier segment.

Overall, Volaris remains focused on leveraging its cost-effective model and strategic initiatives to navigate the evolving aviation landscape. The company’s commitment to innovation and customer service positions it well for future growth despite current market challenges.

Full transcript - Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion SAB de CV (VOLARA) Q3 2025:

Conference Moderator: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining the Volaris Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results Conference call. All lines are currently in listen-only mode. After the company’s remarks, we’ll open the line for questions. Please note that today’s event is being recorded and webcast live on Volaris’s website. Those joining via webcast may submit questions directly through the platform by clicking the question mark icon below the video area and typing your inquiry. Management will address questions during the call, or the Investor Relations team will follow up afterwards. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Lilian Juarez, Investor Relations Manager. Please go ahead, Lilian.

Lilian Juarez, Investor Relations Manager, Volaris: Good morning and welcome to our Third Quarter 2025 earnings call. Joining us today are our President and CEO, Enrique Beltranena, our Airline Executive Vice President, Holger Blankenstein, and our CFO, Jaime Bolt. They will be discussing the company’s results, followed by a Q&A session. This call is for investors and analysts only. Please note that this call may include forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. These are subject to several factors that could cause the company’s results to differ materially, as described in our filing with the U.S. SEC and Mexico CNBV. These statements speak only as of the day they are made, and Volaris undertakes no obligation to update or modify them. All figures are in U.S. dollars compared to the third quarter of 2024, unless otherwise noted. With that, I’ll turn the call over to Enrique.

Enrique Beltranena, President and CEO, Volaris: Good morning, everyone. This quarter, once again, demonstrated that Volaris’s agility and discipline continue to set us apart in a complex environment, driving tangible results. We acted nimbly and with focus, fine-tuning our network and capturing sequential improvement in demand across our core markets. Our results this quarter confirm that our commercial and operational strategies are delivering according to our flight plan. In our last earnings call, we noted that demand momentum was starting to build, and this quarter validated that trend. The recovery we anticipated for the second half is unfolding day by day as we projected. We observed stable domestic demand in a rational supply environment. Additionally, travel sentiment improved in the cross-border market, notwithstanding the geopolitical disruptions observed throughout the year. We executed where it mattered most, taking deliberate actions to strengthen profitability.

The third quarter’s performance in terms of unit revenue was fully in line with our expectations. The year-over-year variation in TRASM has narrowed each month, confirming that demand recovery continues to strengthen across our network. This sequential improvement is the proof statement that our strategy is delivering consistent momentum, and we believe that improved booking curves for the fourth quarter should position Volaris for a stronger 2026. In the domestic market, supply rationalization across all players continues to create a healthier balance between capacity and demand. Our load factor in the Mexican market reached 89.8%, consistent with last year’s levels and reflecting a stable demand under a more rational supply environment, which supports healthier yields going forward. In the international market, we are seeing a steady recovery in cross-border demand, with traffic improving month over month and holiday bookings already trending ahead of last year.

Our 77% load factor reflects our tactical focus on optimizing yields to maximize TRASM. We remain focused on what is within our control, maintaining cost efficiency, adapting quickly, and executing with discipline. As a result, TRASM, CASM, X-Fuel, and EBITDA margin all came slightly better than our guidance, reaffirming our ability to deliver consistent execution. Building confidence from this solid performance, we’re maintaining our full year 2025 capacity growth outlook of approximately 7%. With prudent growth on parallel cost control and improving demand trends towards year-end, we’re reiterating an EBITDA margin in the range of 32 to 33% for 2025. Looking ahead to 2026, we’re embedding flexibility into our fleet plan and targeting ASM growth in the range of 6 to 8%, while retaining the ability to adjust a few percentage points in response to demand trends or OEM developments.

This level of growth would bring us back to year-end 2023 capacity levels, underscoring that our growth remains prudent and aligned with market conditions. Our capacity decisions remain firmly anchored on customer demand and sustained profitability. I want to make it very clear to our investors: Volaris will continue to control growth with discipline, fully aligned with market demand, taking all necessary actions to efficiently reintegrate aircraft returning from engine inspections to ensure we meet this commitment. Having said that, as demand continues to recover, we are also seeing healthy supply dynamics, particularly in Mexico’s domestic market. Volaris continues advancing from a position of strength, with leadership in core domestic markets and a world-leading cost structure that will further improve as we reduce fleet ownership costs and gradually narrow the gap between our productive and non-productive fleet. Sustaining differentiation requires constant evolution. We’re not standing still.

We’re constantly adapting our ultra-low-cost carrier model to Mexico’s unique dynamics, lowering barriers to traveling, enhancing service, and maintaining our unwavering commitments to low costs and low fares. Leveraging Volaris’s scale as Mexico’s largest airline, we’ve built meaningful customer loyalty and driven strong repeat flying across our network. A strong example of this evolution is Guadalajara. A decade ago, this market handled a modest passenger base with limited international connectivity. Today, thanks to Volaris’s expansion and market development, Volaris in Guadalajara boasts nearly 100 daily departures, connecting travelers to 26 domestic and 22 international destinations. Over our 19-year history, Volaris has proudly transported more than 19 million passengers to and from this market.

Similar to what we’ve seen in Guadalajara, this trend is emerging across other markets that are rapidly evolving and opening new opportunities for growth, a typical emerging market phenomenon that underscores our role as a catalyst for national mobility and economic development. As our network matures, so has our customer base. We began as an airline built predominantly around VFR traffic, and we have since evolved into a more diversified customer mix. Today, roughly 40% of our passengers remain VFR, while the remainder represents a broader range of travel motivations, from business to leisure to other niche segments. This evolution positions us to further strengthen our network through better frequencies, attractive schedules, and varied destinations, reinforcing Volaris as the airline of choice for both our VFR base and all passenger segments traveling from our core markets.

Building on this momentum, the next phase of our model focuses on capitalizing on repeat travel and driving incremental TRASM growth across all revenue streams. As Holger will discuss, we continue launching new ancillary products and advancing network and commercial initiatives to better serve a broader customer base, all while maintaining the low-cost DNA that defines Volaris. This evolution builds on our core bus switching strategy, which remains foundational to our growth. As a result, we remain committed to serving this segment by consistently offering low fares. Leveraging our ultra-low-cost carrier model, Volaris is strategically positioned to continue improving TRASM by expanding our product suite and optimizing distribution channels. We’re enhancing the customer experience across multiple fronts, refining our network strategy, streamlining boarding processes, and offering enhanced seat selection options that continue to strengthen revenue diversification while preserving the cost efficiency that underpins our long-term profitability.

Sequential TRASM improvements and a resilient cost structure highlight our disciplined execution. We’re closing 2025 and entering into 2026 stronger, more efficient, and better positioned to continue delivering value to our customers, capturing opportunities, and driving sustained profitability. Volaris has proven its resilience time and again and will continue to do so. I’ll now turn the call over to Holger to continue to discuss our third quarter commercial and operational performance, as well as the evolution of our broader product offering in more detail. Thank you very much.

Lilian Juarez, Investor Relations Manager, Volaris: Thank you, Enrique, and good morning, everyone. Operationally, our team delivered another quarter of strong, disciplined execution. Volaris’s TRASM performance reflects our ability to anticipate market shifts and respond decisively, managing capacity to protect yields and maximize profitability. Volaris maintained network stability and operational flexibility throughout the quarter, effectively managing delays in aircraft deliveries and ongoing engine constraints. As a result, ASM growth reached 4.6%, coming in slightly below our guidance of approximately 6%. Overall, total third quarter load factor stood at 84.4%. The domestic load factor reached 89.8%, supported by steady demand through the summer season in a balanced supply environment. August performed particularly well, benefiting from an extended public school vacation period. Looking forward, current booking curves for the holiday season look solid. International load factor was at 77%, as we actively prioritized yield over loads to optimize profitability.

For the fourth quarter, as we head into the holiday high season, international traffic is tracking stronger with historical seasonality, setting the stage for improved profitability as we close the year. As Enrique mentioned, VFR cross-border demand has been recovering sequentially. We believe we have reached an inflection point in the US-Mexico transborder market, with booking trends showing sustained improvement compared to last year. While we remain disciplined in our capacity deployment, this strengthening demand backdrop provides greater visibility heading into 2026. Moreover, we continue to drive robust ancillary adoption. Our average ancillary revenue per passenger for the third quarter reached $56, marking the eighth consecutive quarter above the $50 threshold. Ancillaries now consistently account for over half of total revenue, remaining a standout driver of resilience and profitability across all market conditions.

This performance highlights the structural strength of our ULCC model in our markets and the sustainability of our revenue mix. The sequential TRASM improvement we anticipated last quarter materialized fully in line with our expectations, with third quarter TRASM reaching $0.0865, just ahead of our guidance and down 7.7% year over year, improving from the 17% and 12% declines recorded in the first and second quarter, respectively. These results confirm that the actions we took earlier in the year are delivering tangible progress. We have good momentum heading into the year-end, with forward bookings showing sequential improvements and providing visibility into sustained strength and healthy demand through 2026. As these results demonstrate, Volaris has built a business model and network that allow us to flexibly and decisively capture demand where it is strongest across our markets.

As our customer base becomes increasingly diversified, we continue to refine our ULCC model, lowering barriers to travel, encouraging repeat flying, and broadening our customer mix while continuing to offer low base fares in our core traffic. A key pillar of this evolution is our ancillary and affinity ecosystem, which continues to grow in both scale and contribution. Our affinity portfolio, including VClub membership, VPass monthly subscription, the annual pass, and the Invex co-branded credit card, together represent an increasingly relevant share of our business. Today, VClub represents a growing share of total revenues, while one-third of all sales through Volaris direct channels are made using our co-branded credit card. The Invex card is the largest co-branded credit card for any industry in Mexico. In July, we seized the growing affinity for the Volaris brand by launching our in-house loyalty program, Altitude.

We are encouraged by a strong early response, with membership enrollments tracking above our expectations. We see significant potential for this franchise, particularly as we integrate our co-branded credit card early next year into Altitude, allowing all card transactions to earn Altitude points. The ultimate goal is to position Volaris as the airline of choice, not only for our core VFR base but for all customer segments traveling from our core city across our network in Mexico’s domestic markets. We already serve a broad mix of travelers, from small business to leisure to multipurpose passengers, alongside our loyal VFR base. Guadalajara, which Enrique mentioned, has become a strong market for the multi-reason customers, such as those who travel for leisure on some occasions and for business on others.

The growing mix of repeat travelers on the flights we operate represents a structural tailwind for our average fare, ancillary sales, and ultimately margin. This evolution of demand is also unlocking new profitable opportunities for our network, capacity allocation, exemplified by the addition of our Mexico City to New York route and increased route breadth from Guadalajara. We are enhancing our product and service offering to better capture the full value of these segments. Simultaneously, as the AOG situation with Pratt & Whitney stabilizes and the political and economic environment improves, we have been able to refocus our efforts on strengthening our network and ensuring industry-leading breadth and depth across our core cities, particularly in Tijuana and Guadalajara. We are also optimizing itineraries and schedules to better serve each segment. For instance, shifting certain red-eye flights to more convenient time slots for business and leisure travelers.

We expect the financial benefits from these adjustments to begin materializing in our TRASM results next year. In addition to our recently launched Altitude loyalty program and code shares, we continue to introduce new products and partnerships in a cost-efficient, low-complexity way that strengthens our revenue diversification. We are proud to announce recent initiatives that include expanding our presence in GDSs through Sabre’s New Distribution Capability or NDC standards. Volaris will expand its reach to Sabre’s broad network of corporate and leisure travel agencies across North America and beyond. We are also ramping up marketing for Premium Plus, our blocked middle seat product for the first two rows. We are implementing these new revenue initiatives with a focus on the latest technology and minimizing costs and complexity. With this, we are broadening our customer base while remaining true to our ULCC DNA.

Overall, we continue to prioritize low cost, operational efficiency, and superior customer service. To this end, one recent innovation has been the introduction of AI agents that can immediately assist customers across multiple languages and channels, boosting our speed and efficacy and volume of interactions. Today, 79% of Volaris customer service is handled through digital channels, up from zero before the launch of our AI agent. This allows us to manage three times more call volume while cutting service costs per interaction by nearly 70%, a clear example of how technology supports both our customer focus and cost leadership. At the same time, our NPS remains strong in the 40s, reflecting how our customers continue to recognize the total value we deliver across our flights, products, and services.

Looking into next year, we will continue to manage capacity with discipline, adding growth selectively across our network and leveraging our flexibility on lease extensions, redeliveries, and network development to support our 6 to 8% capacity growth outlook. At the same time, the foundation we’ve built this year positions Volaris to continue strengthening into 2026. Supply rationalization in the domestic market is expected to support a healthier yield environment while cross-border demand continues to recover. Our initiatives to expand the customer base and grow ancillary revenues should drive higher revenue per passenger, positioning Volaris for continued profitable growth into 2026. Now, I will turn the call over to Jaime to cover our third quarter 2025 financial results and full year 2025 guidance.

Enrique Beltranena, President and CEO, Volaris: Thank you, Holger. Our third quarter financial results reflect our adjustments to prioritize profitability as cross-border traffic conditions gradually improved throughout the summer. Despite external headwinds, we succeeded in controlling what we can control, and we deliver on each line of guidance. Let me first turn to our P&L for the third quarter compared with the same period last year. Total operating revenues were $784 million, a 4% decrease. On the cost side, CASM was $0.079, virtually flat versus the third quarter of 2024, with an average economic fuel cost down 1% to $2.61 per gallon. CASM ex-fuel was $0.0548, aligned with our guidance and up just 2%. This result reinforces the success of our variable cost model and our effective cost management as we achieve our CASM ex-fuel guidance despite flying fewer than expected ASMs and encountering a peso that appreciated more than planned versus the second quarter.

While a stronger peso is a benefit to Volaris’s overall results, it adversely impacts our cost lines. As a reminder, fleet-related expenses such as depreciation and amortization, depreciation of right-of-use assets, and maintenance continue to reflect the full fleet including grounded aircraft. In addition, as we approach a higher number of lease returns in 2026, the P&L line for aircraft and engine variable lease expenses captures the effect of redelivery accruals, which means this line item includes related maintenance for aircraft returns scheduled in the future. Current market conditions have created opportunities to acquire aircraft coming up for redelivery on attractive terms, helping reduce future redelivery expenses and extend green time on the assets. Leveraging these opportunities, during the quarter, we acquired two of our formerly leased CEOs, acting selectively and only when it made strategic sense.

During the quarter, this also represented a benefit to the aircraft and engine variable lease expense line as it involved the cancellation of redelivery accrual related to these aircraft. Moreover, on the other operating income line, we booked sale and leaseback gains of $6.6 million related to the Airbus deliveries of three new aircraft. This line also includes our aircraft grounding compensation from Pratt & Whitney. EBITDA reached $264 million with a margin of 33.6%, aligned with the guidance provided for the quarter. EBIT was $68 million, resulting in a margin of 8.6%. The sequential tighter spread between our EBIT and EBITDA margins reflects our efforts to mitigate the impact on our P&L from engine-related AOGs. Finally, we generated a net profit of $6 million, translated into an earnings per ADS of $0.05.

Moving briefly to our P&L for the first nine months of 2025, total operating revenues were $2.2 billion, EBITDA totaled $659 million, with an EBITDA margin of 30.6%. EBIT was $35 million, representing an EBIT margin of 1.6%, and net loss was $108 million. Turning now to cash flow and balance data, the cash flow generated by operating activities in the third quarter was $205 million. The cash outflows used in investing and financing activities were $69 million and $130 million, respectively. Third quarter CapEx, excluding fleet pre-delivery payments, totaled $106 million, and year to date stood at $195 million, in line with the $250 million we guided for the full year. Volaris ended the quarter with a total liquidity position of $794 million, representing 27% of the last 12 months’ total operating revenues, sustaining our disciplined and conservative approach to cash management.

At quarter end, our net debt to EBITDA ratio stood at 3.1 times, and going forward, our focus remains to deleverage. Importantly, we have no planned near-term need for additional debt and have already financed all pre-delivery payments for aircraft scheduled for delivery through mid-2028. Our strong, flexible balance sheet remains a key pillar of business. Looking ahead, we will continue to explore financing alternatives beyond traditional sale and leasebacks for a means to structurally reduce fleet ownership costs and further strengthen our capital structure, potentially switching operating for finance leases where appropriate. Looking back, the first nine months of 2025 tested our resilience amid volatility in demand. Yet, we remain disciplined and focused on our core priorities: cost control, profitability, and conservative cash management, actions that preserve the strength and value of our business.

I want to highlight that we originally had an ASM growth plan for around 15% during the year. As guided in October 2024, we have since adjusted our plan to nearly half that level due to external circumstances, while keeping CASM ex-fuel in line with our original plan. This demonstrates not only how much control we have over our cost base, but also the strength and adaptability of our ULCC model. With approximately 70% of our costs being variable or semi-fixed, we maintain a uniquely flexible structure that allows us to efficiently navigate operational headwinds and protect profitability. Now, turning to engine availability and our fleet plan, as of the end of the quarter, our fleet consisted of 152 aircraft with an average age of 6.6 years and two-thirds being new models. On average, during the quarter, we had 36 engine-related aircraft groundings.

Regarding our future fleet plan, we are in a favorable position of having an order book of 122 aircraft, 84% of which are A320neo to A321neo with competitive economics from the group order. As mentioned, capacity growth is anchored on customer demand and sustained profitability. We have multiple levers to control growth and optimize its deployment. First, we have the option to realign our delivery schedule, as we did last year through our rescheduling agreement with Airbus, supporting disciplined single-digit annual growth over the next few years. Importantly, this plan already factors in the aircraft returning to operation after engine shop visits. Second, we have the flexibility to either extend leases on aircraft due for redelivery or, when conditions and terms are favorable, acquire aircraft approaching lease expiration, enabling us to make the decision that best balances cost efficiency and strategic value.

Finally, more than half of our upcoming deliveries are intended for fleet replacement. Together, our order book and starter lease returns represent a meaningful competitive advantage, allowing us to plan growth with precision, sustain structural cost leadership, and preserve the agility to adapt to market conditions. We will continue to manage our fleet plan effectively, maintaining flexibility to optimize value and support a strong cash position. Our fleet strategy continues to evolve. To this end, last month, we phased out the last A319 from operations, an aircraft type that, at the time of the IPO, comprised over half of our fleet. Over the past 10 years, we have continuously adapted, transitioned, and became more efficient, and we are committed to continue doing so in the decade ahead.

Turning now to guidance, as Enrique Beltranena and Holger Blankenstein explained, we continue to see demand gradually improve as we head into the holiday season. For the fourth quarter of 2025, we expect ASM growth of approximately 8% year over year, CASM of around $0.093, CASM ex-fuel of approximately $0.0575, with a sequential increase reflecting the timing of heavy maintenance events and a seasonally higher proportion of international operations, and finally, an EBITDA margin of around 36%. This outlook assumes an average foreign exchange rate of around 18.6 Mexican pesos per U.S. dollar and an average U.S. Gulf Coast jet fuel price of $2.20 per gallon in the quarter.

These quarterly figures are aligned with our full year 2025 outlook, which we reaffirm as follows: ASM growth of 7% year over year, EBITDA margin in the range of 32% to 33%, and CapEx net of pre-delivery payments of approximately $250 million, unchanged from our prior outlook. The macros in our quarterly guidance led us to a full year average foreign exchange rate of around 19.3 Mexican pesos per dollar and an average U.S. Gulf Coast jet fuel price of approximately $2.15 per gallon. Now, I will turn the call over to Enrique for closing remarks. Thank you, Jaime. I’d like to conclude our remarks with several reminders. First and foremost, Volaris continues to prove the strength and adaptability of our ultra-low-cost carrier model. We have shown once again that we can respond to market dynamics with discipline.

Throughout 2025, we have adjusted our capacity growth from around 15% to nearly half that level while keeping our CASM ex-fuel fully in line with our original plan. Currently, travel sentiment, especially in the cross-border market, is improving, a clear validation that our strategy is working. These trends position Volaris well for 2026 and beyond. Regardless of external conditions, our cost leadership, flexibility, and expanding product suite are enabling us to address customer needs, capture profitable growth, and continue creating value. At the same time, Volaris remains focused on offering low-cost, high-value service that makes air travel more accessible to our broader set of customers, including our core bus switching VFR segment. We are also optimizing itineraries, strengthening distribution, and expanding our commercial offerings to drive higher TRASM among a diversified passenger set. We believe our markets are evolving.

How European low-cost air travel developed two decades ago, with strong growth potential, expanding passenger segmentation, and a clear preference for affordable, high-value travel. Volaris is advancing from a position of strength, leading in our core markets with one of the most efficient cost structures in the world, one that will further improve as we reduce fleet ownership costs and close the gap between productive and non-productive aircraft. Finally, let me be clear. We are not changing our DNA. Our proven low-cost, low-complexity model continues to evolve, with enhanced ancillary and low loyalty offerings that attract a broader customer base, improve our mix, and strengthen long-term profitability. In short, we are disciplined, we’re evolving, and we are well positioned to continue delivering sustainable value for our shareholders.

Conference Moderator: Thank you. The floor is now open for questions. If you have a question, please press star 11 on your phone at this time. If at any point your question is answered, you may remove yourself from the queue by pressing star 11 again. Questions will be taken in the order they are received. Those following the presentation via the webcast may post their questions on the platform. Please hold while we pull for questions. Our first question is going to come from the line of Duane Finnegworth with Evercore ISI. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Hey, thanks. Good morning. You mentioned a couple of interesting things in the prepared remarks. One, international is tracking stronger than normal seasonality, and then two, that you believe we’re at an inflection point in US-Mexico transborder. Can you just elaborate on both of those?

Holger Blankenstein, Airline Executive Vice President, Volaris: Good morning, Duane. This is Holger. Let me talk a little bit more in detail about the US-Mexico market. We’re talking about an inflection point because since mid-August, our sales in the US-Mexico transborder market are above last year’s level. That clearly demonstrates our ability to fine-tune our capacity, manage demand, and capture the market momentum that we’re seeing. If we look into the fourth quarter, the US-Mexico transborder booking trends are also showing a sustained improvement compared to last year. That’s why we are quite optimistic about the fourth quarter traffic evolution, both in the domestic but also in the transborder market.

Okay, thanks. Maybe you probably covered this, and maybe I missed it, but can you tell us the number of lease returns that you expect next year? How many aircraft will go back? How does that compare to this year? I don’t know if there’s any good way to kind of net that expense relative to the reimbursement that you’re getting from Pratt & Whitney. How do we think about the net of lease return expense and reimbursement in 2025 and 2026? Thanks for taking the questions.

Hi, Duane. This is Jaime. In terms of re-deliveries of planes, next year we are budgeting 17 re-deliveries versus 7 that happened this year. It’s a high number of re-deliveries. I’d like you to focus that there are many pieces related to aircraft deliveries, engine returns, and re-deliveries. Rather than focusing on each, just focus on our full year ASM growth. It is important that our priority, as Enrique mentioned, is to narrow the gap between productive and non-productive fleet while ensuring that we deploy capacity to a market that is consistent with consumer demands, all this while maintaining the flexibility to adjust capacity up or down, Duane.

Okay, thank you.

Conference Moderator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question will be from the line of Tom Fitzgerald with TD Cowen. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Hi. Thanks a lot for the time. A lot of good stuff in the deck. I was wondering if you could dig into slide eight a little bit more and how we should think about the potential RASM uplift over the coming years as those initiatives ramp.

Holger Blankenstein, Airline Executive Vice President, Volaris: This is Holger again. We’ve quantified the potential for each of the products that we saw on slide eight, and we expect a positive year-over-year impact on RASM of these products in 2026. We expect that our commercial initiatives that you saw will begin contributing financially in 2026, and we will communicate the specific targets on all of those products as the adoption of those products scales. These initiatives that you saw there are going to be incorporated in our TRASM guidance for the next year, for 2026, when we provide guidance in the next earnings call.

Okay, great. That’s really helpful. I’m just kind of curious, as your customer mix diversifies and you take on more SME traffic, is there any investment, or maybe it’s immaterial, but just that you have to do for your cabin crew just on the soft product and maybe people who, especially as you’ve taken volume from some of your inline partners? Thanks again for the time.

It is very important to mention that we are implementing the broadening of our customer base and target customers while maintaining a low-cost, low-complexity model. You should not see any meaningful impact in our costs and in our complexity of the onboard product, for example, as we implement these products. We are broadening our target customer base, for example, through implementing different distribution channels like the GDSs, for example. We’re going to diversify our revenue base, but we will maintain our low-cost, low-complexity model.

Conference Moderator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question will come from the line of Michael Lindenberg with Deutsche Bank. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Hi there. This is Jaime Doherty on for Mike. Thanks for taking my question. Enrique, you alluded to some growth trends, you know, or the growth trends, I should say, that you saw out of Guadalajara emerging in other markets. Can you provide us with some more examples?

Holger Blankenstein, Airline Executive Vice President, Volaris: Sure. I think when you look at our bus fare customer base, that’s a segment that grows by far much more rapidly and much more different than any other business traffic that we can see, for example, in the U.S. You can also see how our capacity to penetrate the markets has improved our number of passengers that are using the airlines. In the last years, we have developed more than 10 million passengers that have become first-time flyers, and that’s really important. That makes a dramatic difference versus a mature market.

Thank you. Maybe more generally, what do you guys think is driving the improved travel sentiment in the cross-border market? How is demand in other Central American markets to the U.S.?

Hello. This is Holger. We actually did a survey of our customers both in the U.S. and Mexico, and they cited two main factors for not increasing travel more quickly in the first half of the year. We did this entering the summer season. The first was economic uncertainty, which is about 50% of the responses. That economic uncertainty is improving significantly as macro conditions in both countries are strengthening in the second half of the year. The reason for not traveling has evaporated and is improving significantly. The second concern was related to migration policies. People were worried about traveling and leaving the U.S. or going to the U.S. In the public discourse, we are noting that has evolved from a broad concern about all immigrants to a more focused conversation around individual and legal violations of immigration policies in the U.S.

That really has reduced the perceived apprehensions among our customer base. We are seeing more willingness to travel in the transborder market in the second half of the year, specifically in the fourth quarter, where we are seeing solid booking curves in the transborder market. That brings us to the guided TRASM, which is basically at the levels of last year, 2024. Just to maybe close this point off, travel in the transborder market was delayed, in our opinion, at the beginning of the year and is now catching up as people want to visit their friends and family in Mexico or in the U.S.

Conference Moderator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Rogelio Araujo with Bank of America. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Hi, gentlemen. Thanks for the opportunity. Congratulations on the results. I have a couple here on fleet. First, you said 17, 17 aircraft return. Is that correct? How many you expect to be delivered by 2026? Also, on that matter, what is the number of expected grounded aircraft throughout 2026? I understand you have 36 now. Lastly, how do you think the net CapEx for 2026 compares to these $250 million in 2025? Thank you.

Holger Blankenstein, Airline Executive Vice President, Volaris: Hi, Rio. This is Jaime. Jose is back again into our fleet plan. Let me try to be really on a summary. Our goal next year is to reduce significantly the gap between productive and non-productive fleet. It has many moving pieces. I’m going to start with AOGs. We see an improvement in AOGs. Remember, this year we expect, and year to date, we have 36 average grounded planes. We expect that will improve to around 32, 33 next year, with the highest point of the AOGs initially in January and significantly going down by year end. The second moving piece is deliveries from Airbus. We’re expecting around 12 to 13 deliveries of aircraft from Airbus. Still, we need to confirm that with Airbus and we will need detailed guidance in the next earnings call. Finally, with deliveries, we are budgeting 17 aircraft to be re-delivered.

All of those moving pieces, we are planning you to think about ASM growth next year, as Enrique mentioned and reiterated, in the range of 6% to 8%, which factors all of the above that I am mentioning. Compensation with Pratt, multi-year agreement remains to 2028, but we are seeing an improvement, and we are planning with the flexibility to adapt our demand to customer demand and market condition with the characterization of flexibility in our plans.

Okay, very clear. Thank you very much.

The last question was with respect to CapEx. This year’s guidance is still the same, $250 million. Expect that next year is going to be higher than this year because we’re investing in the maintenance related to engine returns and re-delivery of aircraft.

Perfect. Thank you.

Jaime Bolt, CFO, Volaris: I just want to say it again. I mean, our numbers of growth for next year are all-inclusive. They include the returns of the engines from Pratt & Whitney, the deliveries from Airbus, the replacement of aircraft from the actual fleet. They include the re-deliveries. They include everything, all of the above. It’s included in the number. Please think about that number as a total number of growth and not the conflict with capacity into the market.

Conference Moderator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question will come from the line of Philippe Nielsen with Citi. Your line is open. Please go ahead. Mr. Nielsen, your line might be on mute.

Hi, everyone. Sorry about that. Thanks for taking the question. Congrats on the results. My question is regarding CASM ex-fuel. You guided $0.03575. You mentioned about the timing of having maintenance, putting this a little bit higher than expected. I just wanted to understand how this should evolve. Is it a one-off in fourth quarter related to maintenance, or is it something that will continue throughout 2026? How are you looking at this trend and not only at the quarter? Just trying to understand the cost impact here. Thank you.

Holger Blankenstein, Airline Executive Vice President, Volaris: Hi. This is Jaime. I’m going to start just for the fourth quarter. The sequential increase reflects the normal solidity in specific cost lines that typically break higher in the fourth quarter, as happened last year. It represents higher landing, takeoff, and navigation expenses due to the increased mix of international operations in the fourth quarter. We also have additional related re-deliveries and heavy maintenance events, which temporarily elevate unit costs. Both of them are non-structural impacts aligned with our planned maintenance schedule. As I mentioned, we will provide full guidance for 2026 in the next earnings calls. You are going to see a higher CASM mix than this year related to the investment in maintenance and re-delivery to have the fleet aligned with our growth plans.

Great. Thank you.

Conference Moderator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Gene Spiess with Morgan Stanley. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Thank you for taking my questions. On the point of groundings and being the peak at the beginning of next year and then gradually improving, by year end, how many aircraft do you expect to be grounded? When do you expect groundings to reach zero? Is it by mid 2027, by the end of 2027? What’s your visibility on that?

Holger Blankenstein, Airline Executive Vice President, Volaris: 2027.

Hello?

I’m going to repeat it. We expect that by year end of 2026, the average number of AOGs should be in around 25 to 27. We believe that we are going to be with no material impacts on AOGs related to engines by the end of 2027.

End of 2020. Okay, perfect. If I may, just one additional one. Obviously, you already gave a lot of details on ASM growth for next year and all the variables. Clearly, you have a lot of flexibility given the re-deliveries, the 17 re-deliveries you have next year. If demand is much better than expected, by how much could you potentially increase ASM growth? Conversely, if demand is weak, by how much could you reduce it potentially? Thank you.

By around 2% touch points either up or down.

Okay. Perfect. Very clear. All right, thank you.

Conference Moderator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question will come from the line of Guilherme Mendez with JPMorgan. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Yes. Thank you. Good morning, everybody. Just a quick follow-up. Holger, you mentioned about an overall rational supply on the market, meaning rational competition. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on how should we think about competition in 2026. There’s additional capacity coming online from you and from some of your peers. If you were to expect the current rationale and discipline competitive environment to remain in 2026. Thank you.

Holger Blankenstein, Airline Executive Vice President, Volaris: This is Holger. We have some visibility on the domestic market. For us, in the Mexican domestic markets, we are budgeting low to mid single-digit growth for 2026. We will provide more granularity on our growth rate in the domestic market when we provide the full year guidance in our next earnings call. If we look at the competition, we have visibility on the published schedules of our domestic competitors. Industry growth is likely to remain rational from what we can see right now. That obviously supports a higher and healthier fare environment for us. We are seeing now that competitors have been following a meaningful capacity rationalization to bring capacity in line with domestic demand. We see that trend continuing into 2026, which will lead to a more balanced and healthy domestic supply-demand environment.

That’s very clear. Thank you very much.

Conference Moderator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Alberto Valerio with UBS. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Gentlemen, Enrique, Jaime, Holger, thank you for taking my question. Just a follow-up about the groundings. You expect to normalize it in the end of 2027, 2028, if I am right about this? About cycles, how have been the cycles of engines and also the deliveries of Airbus? When should we see some normalization on this? If I may, another one is about one line on the results that if the variable leases come a little bit below what we were expecting, what we were estimating, should we keep that for the future? This is more related to spare engines. Is that correct? If you can give some call on that, thank you very much.

Holger Blankenstein, Airline Executive Vice President, Volaris: Hi, this is Jaime. As I mentioned, we expect a positive trend on engines returning from the shops. We rescheduled with Airbus. This year, the deliveries are quite aligned on what we planned. Some minor delays or non-material delays, we expect that to continue next year. We have not yet any signal that things are terrible already because we rescheduled by year end. We are planning accordingly with that, with a lot of flexibility, with the different levers that we have in our fleet plan between re-deliveries, deliveries of planes, and then it’s coming back from the shop. We are casually optimistic and planning around that. It is your right. We should be out of the material impact by 2027 with some minor AOGs in terms of absolute numbers in 2028. Compensation covers until 2028 from Pratt & Whitney.

Conference Moderator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Abraham Fuentes Salinas with Banco Santander. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Hi. Thank you. During this quarter, we see an improvement in the aircraft and engine rent expense. I wonder if you can give us a little more color what to expect during 2026 in terms of ASM.

Holger Blankenstein, Airline Executive Vice President, Volaris: Can you repeat the question? It was too long. The volume.

Yes, of course. We saw an improvement during this quarter in aircraft and engine rent expense. I wonder if you can give us a little more color what to expect for 2026, measured as ASM.

I think the benefit in this quarter is related to the conversion of two operating leases into final leases. That’s what the variable aircraft and engine lease line has the benefit in this quarter. As we continue next year and make decisions in re-deliveries, we may explore, as we mentioned during the call, in order to lower the total ownership cost of the fleet. Next year, we think that that number should be a little below to what we had this year and more aligned to 2024.

Okay, perfect. Thanks!

Conference Moderator: Thank you. This concludes today’s question and answer session, and I would like to invite management to proceed with his closing remarks. Please go ahead, sir.

Holger Blankenstein, Airline Executive Vice President, Volaris: This is Enrique. I would like to finish the call saying that we continue to demonstrate the strength and adaptability of our ultra-low-cost carrier model and our command over our markets and cost structure. I want also to say again that regardless of the external environment, our cost leadership, flexibility, and the capacity to expand our product suite ensures that we address customer preference. I also want to say again that we’ll continue to control growth with discipline, and that includes everything. It includes all the pieces of the equation, and it’s fully aligned with market demand. It is also important that we will continue prioritizing low cost with high-value service to increase access to air travel for a broader set of customers. It is important to say that we will continue with leadership in core domestic markets and a world-leading cost structure.

Having said that, I would like to thank you, everybody, for being in the call, and thank you to our family of ambassadors, as well as our board of directors, investors, bankers, lessors, and suppliers for their support. I look forward to speaking to you all again next year. Thank you very much.

Conference Moderator: This concludes the Volaris conference call today. Thank you very much for your participation and have a nice day.

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