VivaAerobus discontinues Austin- Puerto Vallarta and Austin - Cancun services
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VivaAerobus will cease its operations at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport effective 01-Jun-09. VivaAerobus operations included Austin to Cancun and Austin to Puerto Vallarta nonstop flights. The carrier’s final flights in Austin will be on 31-May-09.
The unfortunate outbreak of the swine flu virus has caused an unprecedented rise in the level of requests from American passengers looking to cancel or change flights. The number of passenger “no shows” (passengers with bookings but simply not turning up at the airport) has increased substantially as well.
Just for the month of May, the airline has received a 50% request for cancellations and passenger no shows have gone as high as 30%.The airline understands passengers’ growing concerns, and has been assisting them in moving their flights to later dates, but the vast majority are looking for refunds.
In line with all other airlines, VivaAerobus has been reviewing its operations between the United States and Mexico following the flu outbreak. Based on the level of demand for people seeking refunds, the level of no shows and the dramatically reduced level of demand for travel to these destinations, it makes little sense to continue to operate these routes in the short term.
Executive Director, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Jim Smith, announced, “VivaAerobus made this decision due to the extraordinary external circumstances impacting travel with Mexico. Their actions are consistent with what many Mexican carriers are having to do. We wish them luck during this challenging time and hope they can successfully return to ABIA,"
This decision has not been taken lightly and indeed VivaAerobus had delayed making a decision so that it could monitor behaviour post the initial news regarding the flu outbreak. While demand on Mexican routes has returned to normal levels in the last week, the pattern of behaviour on the Austin Cancun and Austin to Puerto Vallarta routes has not changed; passengers are still calling for refunds and new demand is almost non-existent.
The airline recognises that this decision will inconvenience a number of passengers who still intended to use its services this summer. However, this number is significantly less than the number of passengers who have been seeking a refund.
As a result of this difficult decision all passengers will receive an immediate full refund of the flights they purchased. The airline’s priority right now is to minimize any disruption to booked passengers.
(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 18-May-09
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VivaAerobus discontinues Austin- Puerto Vallarta and Austin - Cancun services 
