Viva Aerobus

If you spot in Mexico for the first time, you quickly notice: alongside Aeroméxico and Volaris, a large share of the traffic belongs to a third airline – Viva Aerobus from Monterrey. For spotters, it is more interesting than the uniform Airbus fleet suggests. Two liveries, four variants of the A320 family and a history that began with used Boeing 737s and Irish capital turn every sighting into a small identification puzzle.

Viva Aerobus at a glance

Viva Aerobus is a Mexican low-cost airline based at Monterrey Airport in the state of Nuevo León. Officially it operates as Aeroenlaces Nacionales, and since October 2024 it has used the shorter brand name Viva. Together with Aeroméxico and Volaris, it is one of the country’s three big airlines: in 2024, Viva carried around 27.6 million passengers, more than four times as many as in 2016.

The model follows the classic budget airline pattern: a uniform fleet, densely seated cabins, a cheap base fare and extra charges for baggage and extras. How that works economically is explained in the article how low-cost carriers work. Unlike Ryanair in Europe, though, Viva combines point-to-point service with a real hub: in Monterrey, many connections come together, and connecting is explicitly part of the offer.

Viva belongs to no alliance. The airline relies on individual partnerships – such as a codeshare with Iberia and an interline agreement with Air Canada.

From the 737-300 to an all-Airbus fleet

Viva’s story begins in autumn 2006. The airline was founded by the Mexican bus travel group IAMSA together with Irelandia Aviation, an investment company from the circle of the Ryanair founders. On November 30, 2006, the first flight took off from Monterrey – with a used Boeing 737-300.

The first years were a period of trial and error. In 2008, Viva flew from Monterrey to Austin, Texas, but pulled out again the following year, partly because of the slump in demand during the swine flu outbreak. In 2009, Guadalajara became the second base. After the end of the former Mexicana in 2010, Viva expanded in Mexico City, which became a hub in 2011.

The real turning point came in 2013: Viva ordered 52 aircraft of the Airbus A320 family, including 40 A320neos. According to Airbus, it was the largest Airbus order in Mexico’s history at the time. In October 2016, Viva took delivery of its first A320neo, and at the end of 2016 the last 737 said goodbye. In December 2016, IAMSA also took over all the shares; the Irish investors exited.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code VB: appears in the flight number, so on departure boards and tickets.
• ICAO code VIV: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on most flight trackers.
• Callsign VIVA: this is how the crew identifies itself on the radio.

The codes fit the name, so mix-ups are hardly possible. There is still a trap, though: the name “Viva” also appears at other airlines, such as the defunct Viva Air Colombia. It had nothing to do with Viva Aerobus. How IATA and ICAO codes are structured in general is explained under IATA and ICAO codes explained.

The fleet: A320 family only

Viva flies exclusively models of the A320 family from Airbus. According to a company profile from July 2026, the fleet comprises around 110 aircraft, of which about 63 A320s and 47 A321s – each in the old and new engine generation. The seat counts come from publicly available fleet overviews and may differ depending on the cabin version.

Type	Seats (typical)	Since	Spotter tip
Airbus A320ceo	180	2014/15	Oldest part of the Airbus fleet, slimmer engines
Airbus A320neo	186	2016	Pratt & Whitney GTF, sharklets from the factory
Airbus A321ceo	220	–	Small group, long fuselage with old engines
Airbus A321neo	240	2020	Viva’s largest aircraft and growth driver

The A321neo is the type Viva is betting on. In 2018, the airline added the stretched variant to its order, and the first aircraft arrived in June 2020. In July 2023, Viva also signed a letter of intent for 90 more A321neos with 240 seats. How much of that is firmly ordered by now is not clearly documented publicly.

The neo aircraft have engines from Pratt & Whitney. That has had consequences in recent years: because of the inspections on the GTF engines, aircraft were temporarily grounded at Viva as at Volaris. For you as a spotter, that means: not every neo in the register is actually flying right now.

ceo or neo, A320 or A321? How to identify the type

Because all Viva aircraft come from the same family, details decide. You have to answer two questions: how long is the fuselage, and which engine generation hangs on the wing?

For the engine generation: the neo has distinctly larger engines with a larger diameter that extend further forward. On the Pratt & Whitney engines of the Viva neos, the deep, almost barrel-shaped housing also stands out. Sharklets at the wingtips, by contrast, are not a reliable feature, because later ceo aircraft can wear them too. You can find a detailed comparison under A320neo or ceo?, and the length differences across the whole family under telling the A318, A319, A320 and A321 apart.

How to recognize Viva Aerobus

At Viva, you currently encounter two brand looks. Older aircraft still wear the VivaAerobus titles in the earlier design, which used red, white and green to echo the colors of the Mexican flag. Since the end of October 2024, the airline has relied on a reduced look: the name Viva in green, combined with a symbol reminiscent of a heart. Newly delivered and newly painted aircraft show the new design, and the rest of the fleet is being converted step by step.

For spotters, this transition phase is a gift: the same airline in two looks, sometimes even on the same day at the same airport. If you collect liveries, you note not just the registration but also the design. Tips on documenting liveries cleanly are in the article collecting and documenting special liveries.

The second reliable feature is the registration. Mexican airliners carry the prefix XA-, at Viva often in the form XA-V… Why countries have different prefixes is explained in the piece on country codes on aircraft.

Network and bases

Viva flies mainly within Mexico. Monterrey is the largest hub, measured by passengers and departures. There are also bases in Mexico City at Benito Juárez Airport and at the newer Felipe Ángeles Airport (AIFA), in Guadalajara, Cancún, Tijuana, Mérida and Los Cabos. In total, Viva serves more than 50 destinations.

Internationally, it flies mainly to the US, for example to Texas, California, Chicago, Las Vegas or New York; the best way to check which routes are currently served is the current schedule. There are also some destinations in Central and South America. Viva does not fly to Europe – long-haul service toward Europe is handled in Mexico by Aeroméxico.

A piece of bus history remains part of the offer to this day: besides flights, Viva also offers shuttle buses, for example from downtown El Paso to Ciudad Juárez Airport on the Mexican side of the border. In 2020, Viva also announced a cargo division of its own called Viva Cargo.

Partners, alliance plans and the merger with Volaris

In December 2021, Viva and the US airline Allegiant Air announced a close cooperation. Both wanted to offer connections between the US and Mexico together. The Mexican competition authority approved in October 2022 without conditions, but the US Department of Transportation suspended its review in July 2023 – citing open questions about the air services agreement between the two countries. Whether the alliance will still come about is open.

The bigger course-setting affects the home market. In December 2025, Viva and Volaris agreed to a merger of their parent companies as a combination of equals. Viva’s current owners are to hold half of the capital of the joint group. Important for you: the airlines are to keep flying as separate brands. Volaris shareholders approved in March 2026; the combination is also subject to review by the authorities, whose status you should look up before a trip.

For spotters, little changes in the sky for now. That both companies rely on the A320neo family, though, also makes the combination interesting for fleet planning – and gives the comparison between the two low-cost airlines a new meaning. A look back at a Mexican competitor that didn’t make it is provided by the page on Interjet.

Viva compared with other low-cost airlines

In the Americas, there are several low-cost airlines with a pure A320 family fleet. The comparison helps with classification:

Airline	Country	Fleet	Difference from Viva
Volaris	Mexico	A320neo family	Direct competitor, merger of holding companies agreed
Frontier Airlines	USA	A320neo family	US ultra-low-cost airline from Denver with animal designs on the tail
JetSMART	Chile	A320/A321neo	South American budget airline with offshoots in several countries
Aeroméxico	Mexico	Boeing 737 and 787, Embraer	Network carrier with SkyTeam membership instead of a low-cost model

Common mix-ups

• Confusing Viva Aerobus with Viva Air Colombia – two different airlines; the Colombian Viva ceased operations in 2023.
• Treating Volaris and Viva as the same – both fly Mexican Airbus fleets but are separate brands; even after the merger, they remain separate airlines.
• Taking the old design for another airline – the VivaAerobus titles and the new Viva logo belong to the same company.
• Using sharklets as a reliable neo feature – the larger engines are what count.
• Taking an A321 for an A320 – at an oblique angle, the length is deceptive; watch the number of windows ahead of and behind the wing.
• Overrating the Ryanair origin – the Irish investors have not been involved since 2016.

Conclusion

Viva Aerobus is the low-cost giant from the north of Mexico: launched in 2006 with used 737-300s, today an all-Airbus airline focused on the A321neo. For spotters, the appeal lies in the details – two brand looks, ceo and neo, A320 and A321. If you note the registration and design, you end up with a collection that says more than “yet another Viva”.