Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining 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' 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 Lillian Juarez, investor relations manager. Please go ahead, Lillian.

Good morning and welcome to our third quarter 2025 earnings call. Joining us today are our president and CEO, Enrique Beltranena, our airline executive ex-president Holger Blankenstein, and our CFO Jaime Boas. 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 on their 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's CNBB. 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 US dollars compared to the third quarter of 2024, unless otherwise noted. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Enrique.

Good morning, everyone. This quarter once again demonstrated that Volaris' 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. The 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 low 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're 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% low factor reflects our tactical focus on optimizing yields to maximize TRAS. We remain focused on what is within our control, maintaining cost efficiency, adapting quickly, and executing with discipline. As a result, T-RASM, CASM, XFUEL, 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 the 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 six 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 underscore 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 travel enhancing service and maintaining our unwavering commitments to low costs and low fares. Leveraging Volaris' 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 the modest passenger base with limited international connectivity. Today, thanks to Volaris' expansion and market development, Volaris in Guadalajara boosts nearly 100 daily departures, connecting travelers to 26 domestic and 22 international destinations. Over our 19th year of history, Volaris has proudly transported more than 90 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 represent 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 tierism 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 built 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 tierism by expanding our product suite and optimizing distribution channels. We're enhancing the customer experience across multiple forms, 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 improvement 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. Polaris 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.

Thank you, Enrique, and good morning, everyone. Operationally, our team delivered another quarter of strong disciplined execution. Wolaris' travel performance reflects our ability to anticipate market shifts and respond decisively, managing capacity to protect yields and maximize profitability. Wolaris maintained network stability and operational flexibility throughout the quarter, effectively managing delays in aircraft delivery 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 yields 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. And as Ricky mentioned, VFR cross-border demand has been recovering sequentially. We believe we have reached an inflection point in the U.S.-Mexico trans-border 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 ULTC model in our markets and the sustainability of our revenue mix. The sequential traveling improvement we anticipated last quarter materialized fully in line with our expectations, with third quarter TRASM reaching 8.65 cents 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 improvement and providing visibility into sustained strength and healthy demand through 2026. As these results demonstrate, Wolaris has built a business model and network that allow us to flexibly and decisively capture demand where it is strongest across our market. 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 fare 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, vPath monthly subscription, the annual path, and the indexed 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 large 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 cities across our network in Mexico's domestic markets We already serve a broad mix of travelers, from small business, to leisure, to multi-purpose 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 margins. 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 recent 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 roles. 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 interaction. Today, 79% of Volaris customer service is handled through digital channels, up from zero before the launch of our AI agents. 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 extension, re-delivery and network development to support our six 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.

Thank you, Holger. Our third quarter financial results reflect our adjustments to prioritize profitability as cross-border traffic conditions gradually improve throughout the summer. Despite external headwinds, we succeeded in controlling what we can control, and we delivered 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, custom was 7.9 cents, virtually flat versus the third quarter of 2024, with an average economic fuel cost down 1% to $2.61 per gallon. Casomex fuel was 5.48 cents, aligned with our guidance, and up just 2%. This result reinforces the success of our viable cost model and our effective cost management as we achieve our Casomex 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' 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 these returns in 2026, the P&L line for aircraft and engine variable lease expenses captures the effect of re-delivery 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 re-delivery on attractive terms, helping reduce future re-delivery expenses and extend wind 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 leased expense line as it involved the cancellation of the delivery accrual related to this aircraft. Moreover, on the other operating income line, We book sale and lease by gains of $6.6 million related to the Airbus deliveries of three new aircraft. This line also includes our aircraft grounding compensation from pattern width. 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 EBITR 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 5 cents. Moving briefly to our P&L for the first nine months of 2025, total operating revenues were $2.2 billion, EBITR total $659 million with an EBITDA margin of 30.6%. EBIT was $35 million, representative an EBIT margin of 1.6%, and net loss was $108 million. Turning out cash flow and balancing 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, total $106 million, and year-to-date stood at 195, 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 is still at 3.1 times, and going forward, our focus remains to deliver. Importantly, we have no planned near-term need for additional debt and have already financed all pre-delivery payments for ECRAs 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 final 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 already 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 cash flow 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 viable or semi-fixed, we maintain a uniquely flexible structure that allows us to efficiently navigate operational headwinds and protect profitability. Turning to engine availability in 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 roundings. Regarding our future fleet plan, we are in favorable position of having an order book of 122 aircraft, 84% of which are A221 NEOs 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 the 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 re-delivery, or when conditions and terms are favorable, acquire aircraft approaching lease expiration, enabling us to make the decision that best balance cost efficiency and strategic value. Finally, more than half of our upcoming deliveries are intended for fleet replacement. Together, our order book and starter list 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 faced out the last day 319 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 and Holger 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, TRASM of around 9.3 cents, CASM ex-fuel of approximately 5.75 cents, with the 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 $2.2 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 percent, and CAPEX net of pre-delivery payments of approximately $250 million on change from our prior outlook. The macros in our quarterly guidance led us to a full-year average point exchange rate of around 19.3 Mexican pesos per dollar, an average U.S. Gulf Coast jet fuel price of approximately $2.15 per gallon. 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, Polaris 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 chasm 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 TRAS among a diversified passenger set. We believe our markets are evolved 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 fair mix, and strengthen long-term profitability. In short... We are disciplined, we are evolving, and we are well positioned to continue delivering sustainable value for our shareholders.

Thank you. The floor is now open for questions. If you have a question, please press star 1-1 on your phone at this time. If at any point your question is answered, you may remove yourself from the queue by pressing star 1-1 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 Finningworth 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. international is tracking stronger than normal seasonality, and then two, that you believe we're at an inflection point in U.S. trans-border. Can you just elaborate on both of those?

Good morning, Dwayne. This is Holger. Let me talk a little bit more in detail about the U.S.-Mexico market. We're talking about an inflection point because since mid-August, our sales in the U.S.-Mexico transporter market are above last year's level. And 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 U.S.-Mexico transporter booking trends are also showing a sustained improvement compared to last year. And that's why we are quite optimistic about the fourth quarter traffic evolution, both in the domestic but also in the transporter market.

Okay, thanks. And then 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? And I don't know if there's any good way to – to kind of net that expense relative to the reimbursement that you're getting from Pratt? How do we think about the net of lease return expense and reimbursement in 25 and 26? Thanks for taking the questions.

Hi, Wayne. This is Jaime. In terms of re-deliveries of plates, next year we're budgeting 17 re-deliveries versus seven that happened this year. So it's a high number of re-deliveries. What I would like you to focus, there are many pieces related to aircraft deliveries, engine returns, and re-deliveries. So rather than focusing on each, just focus on our full duration 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 the market that is consistent with consumer demand. All these while maintaining the flexibility to adjust capacity up or down.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, and one moment for our next question. Our next question will be from the line of Tom Fitzgerald with TD Cal, and your line is open. Please go ahead.

All right, thanks so much 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.

So Tom, this is Holger again.

So 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 travel 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 scale. These initiatives that you saw there are going to be incorporated in our travel guidance for the next year, for 2026, when we provide guidance in the next earnings call.

Okay, great. That's really helpful. And then 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 a material, but just that you have to do for your cabin crew, just on the soft product, and maybe people who, especially as you take in volume from some of your in-align partners. Thanks again for the time.

So, Tom, 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. So you should not see any meaningful changes 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.

Thank you. And one moment for our next question.

Our next question will come from the line of Michael Linenberg with Deutsche Bank. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Well, hi there. This is Shannon 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?

Sure.

I think when you look at our customer base, I mean, 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., okay?

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. So that makes a dramatic difference versus a mature market.

Yeah. Thank you. And, you know, maybe more generally, what do you guys think is driving, like, the improved travel sentiment in the cross-border market, you know, like, and how is demand in other Central American markets to the U.S.?

Hello. This is Holger. So we actually did a survey of all 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 within this entry of the summer season. The first was economic uncertainty, which is about 50% of the responses. And that economic uncertainty is improving significantly as macro conditions in both countries are strengthening in the second half of the year. So that's the reason for not traveling more. 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. And in the public discourse, we are noting that 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., And that really has reduced the perceived apprehensions among our customer base. So we're seeing more willingness to travel in the trans-border market in the second half of the year, and specifically in the fourth quarter, where we're seeing solid booking curves in the trans-border market. And that brings us to the guided travel, which is basically at the levels of last year, 2024. Just to maybe close this point off, Travel in the transporter 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.

Thank you, and one moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Rogerio Arujo 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 returned. Is that correct? And how many you expect to be delivered by 26? Also, on that matter, what is the number of expected grounded aircraft throughout 2026? I understand you have 36 now. And lastly, how to think the net capex for 26 compared to these $250 million in 25. Thank you.

CARMEN GARCIA- Hi, Riero. This is Carme. And Joseph Bacabec is our lead plan. And let me try to be really on a summary. Our goal next year is to reduce significantly the gap between productive and non-productive and it has many moving pieces. I want to start with the AOGs. We see an improvement in AOGs. Remember, this year we expect, and here today we have 36 average grounded planes. We expect that 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 delivers from Airbus, We're expecting around 12 to 13 deliveries of the aircraft from Airbus. Still, we need to confirm that with Airbus, and we will give detailed guidance in the next earnings call. And finally, with deliveries, we are budgeting 17 aircraft to be 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 six to 8%, which factors all of the above that I am mentioning. Compensation would pass. Most of your 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.

So the last question was with respect to CapEx. This year's guidance is being the same, 250. Expect that next year is going to be higher than this year because we're investing in the maintenance related to engines returns, and we deliver your progress.

Perfect. Thank you.

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, the deliveries from Airbus, 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, so please think about that number as a total number of growth and not a conflict with capacity into the market.

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 Casemax fuel. You got it at $3.75. 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 and fourth quarter related to maintenance, or is it something that will continue throughout to 2026. How are you looking at this trend? And not only at the quarter, just trying to understand the cost impact here. Thank you.

Hi, this is Jaime. I'm going to start just for the 4Q. The sequential increase reflects the normality in specific cost lines that typically rate higher in the 4Q as happened last year. It represents higher landing, take-off, and navigation expenses due to the increased mix of international operations in the 4Q. We also have additional related deliveries and heavy maintenance events, which temporarily elevate unit costs. Both of those are not as fructical impacts aligned with our planned maintenance schedule. And as I mentioned, we will provide full guidance for 2026 in the next 30 calls, you are going to see a higher cash flow next year related to investment in maintenance and delivery to have the fleet aligned with our road plans.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you. And one moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Gene Spieth with Morgan Stanley. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Thank you for taking my questions. So 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? And then when do you expect groundings to reach zero? Is it by mid-27, by the end of 27th? Like what's your visibility on that?

Hello?

Sorry, 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. And we believe that we are going to be with no material impact on AOGs related to endings by the end of 2027.

End of 2020. OK, perfect. And 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. But clearly, you have a lot of flexibility giving the re-deliveries, the 17 re-deliveries you have next year. So if demand is much better than expected, by how much could you potentially increase ASM growth? And conversely, if demand is weak, by how much could you reduce it potentially? Thank you.

By around 2% at such points, either off or down.

Okay. Perfect. Very clear. All right. Thank you.

Thank you. And one moment for our next question. Our next question will come from the line of Guillermo Mendes with J.P. Morgan. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Yes, thank you. Good morning, everybody. Just a quick follow-up. Hugo, you mentioned about overall rational supply on the market, so meaning rational competition. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on how 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 rational and disciplined competitive environment to remain in 2026. Thank you.

Sure, this is Holger. So we have some visibility on the domestic market. For us, in the Mexican domestic market, we are budgeting low to mid single-digit growth for 2026, and 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. And industry growth is likely to remain rational from what we can see right now. And that obviously supports a higher and healthier fair environment for us. We are seeing now that competitors have been following a meaningful capacity rationalization to bring capacity in line with domestic demand. And we see that trend continuing into 2026, which will lead to a more balanced and healthy domestic supply and demand environment.

That's very clear. Thank you very much.

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.

Hi, gentlemen. Henrique, Jaime, Jorge, thank you for taking my question. Just a follow-up about the groundings. So you expect to normalize it in the end of 2027, 2028. Am I right about this? And about cycles, how have been the cycles of engines and also the delivers of Airbus, when we should see some normalization of this? And if I may, another one is about one line on the results, that is, the variable leaves 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, and thank you very much.

As mentioned, we expect a positive trend on engines returning from the shops. We will schedule with Airbus. So, this year, the deliveries are quite aligned with what we plan. So, minor delays or non-material delays. We expect that to continue next year. We have not getting the signal that they are ready because we will schedule by year end. And we are planning accordingly with that, with a lot of flexibility, with different levers that we have in our fleet plan between the 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 by 2027, with some minor in terms of absolute numbers in 2028. and compensation covers on the 2028 contracts.

Thank you. And one moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the online of Abraham Puente Salinas with Binkos and Tinder. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

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

Can you repeat the question? Maybe it was too long.

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

I think the benefit in this quarter is related to the conversion of two operating leases into final leases. So, that what the variable aircraft landing lead line has the benefit in this quarter. As we continue next year and make decisions in deliveries, we may explore, as we mentioned during the call, in order to lower the total ownership cost of the fleet. And 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.

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.

This is Enrique. I would like to finish the call saying that we continue to demonstrate the strength and adaptability of our UTALO cost-carrier model and our command over our markets and cost structure. I want also to 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. And 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, partners, the source, and suppliers for their support. I look forward to speaking to you all again next year. Thank you very much.

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