Mexicana de Aviación (1921–2010)

Compañía Mexicana de Aviación S.A. de C.V., usually shortened to Mexicana de Aviación, was Mexico's oldest airline and one of the oldest continuously single-branded airlines, inaugurated in 1921. It was Mexico's biggest airline and flag carrier before ceasing operations on August 28, 2010, leaving competitor Aeroméxico as a de facto monopoly.

A revival airline is operated by SEDENA – the Mexican Ministry of Defense, as a state-owned airline. It began operations in December 2023 under the legal name Aerolínea del Estado Mexicano using the Mexicana brand.

History

Mexicana was Mexico's first airline, and North America's oldest airline and the world's fourth oldest airline operating under the same name, after the Netherlands's KLM, Colombia's Avianca, and Australia's Qantas. In addition to domestic services, Mexicana operated flights to various international destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean, South America and Europe. Their primary hub was Mexico City International Airport, with secondary hubs at Cancún International Airport, and Guadalajara International Airport.

Mexicana's main competitors were Aeroméxico (although the two companies "code shared" on several routes) and low-cost carriers such as Volaris and Interjet (Interjet has since ceased operations).

In 2009, the Mexicana group of airlines (including Mexicana Click and Mexicana Link) carried just over 11 million passengers (6.6 million on domestic routes and 4.5 million on international routes), using a fleet of some 110 aircraft.

Over the three years prior to ceasing operations, the Mexicana group had increased their share of what was a burgeoning domestic market, from around 22% at the beginning of 2007 to somewhere between 28% and 30% for most of their final 12 months.