Volaris (Y4, México City International) has established a subsidiary in Costa Rica, Volaris Costa Rica (Q6, San José Juan Santamaría), the airline's representative in Costa Rica, Fernando Naranjo, has revealed.

Speaking to La Republica, Naranjo said the start-up was currently at Phase 4 of its AOC certification drive amid plans to launch during the second half of the year.

In its initial stages, the LCC will focus on serving Central America before expanding into the rest of the Americas. Aside from its San José Juan Santamaría hub, a base will also be established in Guanacaste in order to tap tourist traffic visiting the Guanacaste region, he added.

Fleet-wise, the start-up will employ a trio of A320-200s alongside 160 staff for its initial operational requirements.

Earlier this year, Grupo Viva, the firm behind Mexico's other LCC, VivaAerobus (VB, Monterrey Mariano Escobedo), and Colombia's VivaColombia (Medellín José Maria Córdova), announced it was shelving plans to set up its own Costa Rican unit - VivaLatinoamérica (San José Juan Santamaría) - in favour of a new venture elsewhere in Latin America.