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Airline Mexicana Sees 2009 Passenger Traffic Down 10%-12%

By Paul Kiernan, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

MEXICO CITY -(Dow Jones)- Grupo Mexicana, one of Mexico's two leading airline concerns, estimates that its 2009 traffic will be 10%-12% lower than last year's 11.7 million passengers, a company official said.

The expected drop would mainly result from the outbreak in May and June of A/ H1N1 influenza, Adolfo Crespo, Grupo Mexicana's vice president for corporate communications, told Dow Jones Newswires in a telephone interview.

Of Mexico's airlines, Mexicana has the most international traffic, which was the segment hardest hit by the flu scare.

Crespo said load factors on the company's airplanes have since recovered to their seasonal average, in the mid-70s.

But Grupo Mexicana's average ticket price "is still not what it needs to be," Crespo said, noting that prices are about 20% lower than last year's average.

The company, which comprises flagship airline Mexicana de Aviacion, low-cost subsidiary Click and regional carrier Mexicana Link, led all Mexican airlines in passenger traffic from January to September this year.

Grupo Mexicana's domestic and international traffic totaled 8.13 million passengers during the first nine months of the 2009, compared with rival Aeromexico's 7.45 million, according to data from the Communications and Transportation Ministry, or SCT.

Mexicana and rival Aeromexico, both formerly controlled by the government, were sold to private investors in 2005 and 2007.

Rumors of a potential merger of the two companies have been widespread, and company officials say such a move is just one of several possibilities their airlines are exploring to achieve future growth and profitability.

Crespo said Grupo Mexicana might eventually list shares on the Mexican Stock Exchange, although an initial public offering isn't likely within the next year.

"It is a possibility in the future, yes, but there's no plan to do anything of that nature right now," Crespo said.

- By Paul Kiernan, Dow Jones Newswires; (5255)5001-5726, paul.kiernan@ dowjones.com

  (END) Dow Jones Newswires
  10-27-091338ET
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