Volaris Costa Rica (Q6, San José Juan Santamaría) is intending to halt its expansion plans in the Central American country following a series of negative impacts.

The revelation came from the Chief Executive Officer of parent company Volaris (Y4, México City International) Enrique Beltranena, via his personal LinkedIn account, on November 13.

The reasons for thwarting its daughter company's growth plans were many and varied: "The aeronautical authority lost its country category to the US, tax increases, the highest fuel cost in the region and now the planned increase in Juan Santamaría [San José Juan Santamaría] airport charges for 2020 which represents an increase in operating costs for Volaris of 59%, makes it unfeasible for any airline to develop aviation as a local. At Volaris we are evaluating the situation with great interest. Meanwhile, our decision is to freeze growth in Costa Rica."

It was unlikely that the US would have featured in the low-cost carrier's (LCC) route expansion plans, as the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) downgraded the country's International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) rating to Category 2 in May. The downgrade means that while Costa Rican carriers can continue to serve the US, they will not be allowed to establish new services there.

Founded in 2016, the Costa Rican subsidiary of its Mexican parent presently has a fleet of three A319s, according to the ch-aviation PRO airlines module. Volaris' only other overseas off-shoot is Volaris El Salvador (N3, San Salvador International), which has not yet launched scheduled operations.

The LCC currently offers a network of seven destinations from its base in San José, namely to Cancún, Guatemala City, Los Angeles International, México City International, New York JFK, San Salvador International and Washington Dulles.