United states securities and exchange commission

 

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								Page
		ITEM 11		QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURE ABOUT MARKET RISK					103
		ITEM 12		DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES					104
				A.		Debt Securities			104
				B.		Warrants and Rights			104
				C.		Other Securities			105
				D.		American Depositary Shares			105
Part II									109
		ITEM 13		DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES					109
		ITEM 14		MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS					109
				A.		Use of Proceeds			109
		ITEM 15		CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES					109
		ITEM 16		[Reserved]					110
		ITEM 16A		Audit Committee Financial Expert					110
		ITEM 16B		Code of Ethics					110
		ITEM 16C		Principal Accountant Fees and Services					111
		ITEM 16D		Exemptions from the Listing Standards for Audit Committees					111
		ITEM 16E		Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers					111
		ITEM 16F		Change in Registrant’s Certifying Accountant					111
		ITEM 16G		Corporate Governance					111
		ITEM 16H		MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE					114
Part III									114
		ITEM 17		FINANCIAL STATEMENTS					114
		ITEM 18		FINANCIAL STATEMENTS					114
		ITEM 19		EXHIBITS					114

 

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND ASSOCIATED RISKS

This annual report on Form 20-F or our “annual report,” contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the “Exchange Act.” We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends affecting the financial condition of our business. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee or assurance of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made and/or management’s good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to:

 

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the competitive environment in our industry;

 

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ability to keep cost low;

 

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changes in our fuel cost, the effectiveness of our fuel cost hedges and our ability to hedge fuel costs;

 

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the impact of worldwide economic conditions, including the impact of the economic recession on customer travel behavior;

 

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actual or threatened terrorist attacks, global instability, geopolitical risks and potential U.S. military actions or activities;

 

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ability to generate non-ticket revenues;

 

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external conditions, including air traffic congestion, weather conditions and outbreak of disease;

 

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ability to maintain slots in the airports that we operate and service provided by airport operators;

 

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ability to operate through new airports that match our operative criteria;

 

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air travel substitutes;

 

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labor disputes, employee strikes and other labor-related disruptions, including in connection with our negotiations with our union;

 

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ability to attract and retain qualified personnel;

 

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loss of key personnel;

 

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aircraft-related fixed obligations;

 

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dependence on cash balances and operating cash flows;

 

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our aircraft utilization rate;

 

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maintenance costs;

 

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our reliance on automated systems and the risks associated with changes made to those systems;

 

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use of personal data;

 

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lack of marketing alliances;

 

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government regulation, changes in law and interpretation and supervision of compliance with applicable law;

 

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maintaining and renewing our permits and concessions;

 

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our ability to execute our growth strategy;

 

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operational disruptions;

 

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our indebtedness;

 

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our liquidity;

 

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our reliance on third-party vendors and partners;

 

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our reliance on a single fuel provider in Mexico;

 

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an aircraft accident or incident;

 

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our aircraft and engine suppliers;

 

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changes in the Mexican and VFR (passengers who are visiting friends and relatives) markets;

 

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insurance costs;

 

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environmental regulations;

 

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cyber-attacks; and

 

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other risk factors included under “Risk Factors” in this annual report.

In addition, in this annual report, the words “believe,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “predict,” “potential” and similar expressions, as they relate to our company, our business and our management, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In light of these risks and uncertainties, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this annual report may not occur and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth above. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this annual report. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable law. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

 

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INTRODUCTION AND USE OF CERTAIN TERMS

In this annual report, we use the term “Volaris” to refer to Controladora Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.B. de C.V., “Volaris Opco” to refer to Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.P.I. de C.V., “Comercializadora” to refer to Comercializadora Volaris, S.A. de C.V., “Servicios Corporativos” to refer to Servicios Corporativos Volaris, S.A. de C.V., “Operaciones” to refer to “Operaciones Volaris, S.A. de C.V., “Servicios Administrativos” to refer to Servicios Administrativos Volaris, S.A. de C.V., “Servicios Earhart” to refer to Servicios Earhart, S.A., “Vuela” to refer to Vuela, S.A. and “Vuela Aviación” to refer to Vuela Aviación, S.A. Volaris Opco, Comercializadora, Servicios Corporativos, Operaciones. Servicios Administrativos, Vuela and Vuela Aviación are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Volaris. The terms “we,” “our” and “us” in this annual report refer to Volaris, together with its subsidiaries, and to properties and assets that they own or operate, unless otherwise specified. References to “Series A shares” refer to Series A shares of Volaris.

GLOSSARY OF AIRLINES AND AIRLINE TERMS

Set forth below is a glossary of industry terms used in this annual report:

“Aerocalifornia” means Aerocalifornia, S.A. de C.V.

“Aeroméxico” means Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V.

“AirAsia” means AirAsia Berhad.

“Airbus” means Airbus S.A.S.

“Aladia” means Aladia Airlines, S.A. de C.V.

“Alaska Air” means Alaska Air Group, Inc.

“Allegiant” means Allegiant Travel Company.

“Alma” means Aerolíneas Mesoamericanas, S.A. de C.V.

“Aeroméxico Connect” means Aerolitoral, S.A. de C.V.

“American” means American Airlines Group.

“Available seat miles” or “ASMs” means the number of seats available for passengers multiplied by the number of miles the seats are flown.

“Average daily aircraft utilization” means flight hours or block hours, as applicable, divided by number of days in the period divided by average aircraft in the period.

“Average economic fuel cost per gallon” means total fuel expense net of hedging effect, divided by the total number of fuel gallons consumed.

“Average ticket revenue per booked passenger” means total passenger revenue divided by booked passengers.

“Average stage length” means the average number of miles flown per passenger flight segment.

“Aviacsa” means Consorcio Aviaxsa, S.A. de C.V.

“Avianca” means Avianca Holding S.A.

“Avolar” means Avolar Aerolíneas, S.A. de C.V.

“Azteca” means Líneas Aéreas Azteca, S.A. de C.V.

“Azul” means Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S.A.

 

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“Block hours” means the number of hours during which the aircraft is in revenue service, measured from the time it leaves the gate until the time it arrives to the gate at destination.

“Booked passengers” means the total number of passengers booked on all flight segments.

“CASM” or “unit costs” means total operating expenses, net divided by ASMs.

“CASM ex fuel” means total operating expenses, net excluding fuel expense divided by ASMs.

“CBP” means United States Customs and Border Protection.

“CEO” means current engine option.

“Copa” means Copa Holding S.A.

“Delta” means Delta Air Lines, Inc.

“DGAC” means the Mexican Civil Aeronautic Authority ( Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil ).

“DOT” means the United States Department of Transportation.

“EPA” means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

“FAA” means the United States Federal Aviation Administration.

“FCC” means the United States Federal Communications Commission.

“Flight hours” means the number of hours during which the aircraft is in revenue service, measured from the time it takes off until the time it lands at the destination.

“Frontier” means Frontier Airlines, Inc.

“Gol” means Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, S.A.

“Grupo Aeroméxico” means Grupo Aeroméxico, S.A.B. de C.V., which includes Aeroméxico and Aeroméxico Connect.

“Grupo Mexicana” means Grupo Mexicana de Aviación, S.A. de C.V., which is the holding company for three airlines, Compañía Mexicana de Aviación, Mexicana Click and Mexicana Link.

“Grupo TACA” means Taca International Airlines, S.A.

“IATA” means the International Air Transport Association.

“Interjet” means ABC Aerolíneas, S.A. de C.V.

“LATAM” means LATAM Airlines Group S.A.

“Latin America” means, collectively, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America.

“Latin American publicly traded airline carriers” means, collectively, Aeroméxico, Avianca, Copa, Gol and LATAM.

“Legacy carrier” means an airline that typically offers scheduled flights to major domestic and international routes (directly or through membership in an alliance) and serves numerous smaller cities, operates mainly through a “hub-and-spoke” network route system and has higher cost structures than low-cost carriers due to higher labor costs, flight crew and aircraft scheduling inefficiencies, concentration of operations in higher cost airports and multiple classes of services.

“Load factor” means RPMs divided by ASMs and expressed as a percentage.

 

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“Low-cost carrier” means an airline that typically flies direct, point-to-point flights, often serves major markets through secondary, lower cost airports in the same regions as major population centers, provides a single class of service, thereby increasing the number of seats on each flight and avoiding the significant and incremental cost of offering premium-class services, and tends to operate fleets with only one or two aircraft families, in order to maximize the utilization of flight crews across the fleet, improve aircraft scheduling efficiency and flexibility and minimize inventory and aircraft maintenance costs.

“NEO” means new engine option.

“Nova Air” means Polar Airlines de Mexico, S.A. de C.V.

“On-time” means flights arriving within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time.

“Other Latin American publicly traded airlines” means, collectively, Avianca, Copa, Gol, Grupo Aeroméxico and LATAM.

“Passenger flight segments” means the total number of passengers flown on all flight segments.

“RASM” means passenger revenue divided by ASMs.

“Revenue passenger miles” or “RPMs” means the number of miles flown by passengers.

“Ryanair” means Ryanair Holdings plc.

“SCT” means the Mexican Communications and Transportation Ministry ( Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes ).

“Southwest Airlines” means Southwest Airlines Co.

“Spirit” means Spirit Airlines, Inc.

“Tiger” means Tiger Airways Holdings Limited.

“Total operating revenue per ASM,” or “TRASM” means total revenue divided by ASMs.

“TSA” means the United States Transportation Security Administration.

“Trip” means TRIP Linhas Aéreas S.A.

“ULCC” or “ultra-low-cost carrier” means an airline that belongs to a subset of low-cost carriers, which distinguishes itself by using a business model with an intense focus on low-cost, efficient asset utilization, unbundled revenue sources aside from the base fares with multiple products and services offered for additional fees. In the United States, Spirit Airlines, Inc. and Allegiant define themselves as ULCCs and Volaris and VivaAerobus follow the ULCC model in Mexico.

“United” means United Continental Holdings, Inc.

“U.S.-based publicly traded target market competitors” means Alaska Air, American, Delta and United.

“VFR” means passengers who are visiting friends and relatives.

“VivaAerobus” means Aeroenlaces Nacionales, S.A. de C.V.

“Webjet” means Linhas Aéreas Econômicas.

“Wizz” means Wizz Air Holdings Plc.

 

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PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND OTHER INFORMATION

This annual report includes our audited consolidated financial statements at December 31, 2015 and 2016, and for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2016, which have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), referred hereinafter as IFRS.

Unless otherwise specified, all references to “U.S. dollars,” “dollars,” “U.S. $” or “$” are to United States dollars, the legal currency of the United States, and references to “pesos” or “Ps.” are to Mexican Pesos, the legal currency of Mexico. Except as otherwise indicated, peso amounts have been converted to U.S. dollars at the exchange rate of Ps.20.6640 per U.S. $1.00, as reported by the Mexican Central Bank ( Banco de México ) as the rate for the payment of obligations denominated in foreign currency payable in Mexico ( tipo de cambio para solventar obligaciones denominadas en moneda extranjera, pagaderas en México ) in effect on December 31, 2016. Such conversions are for the convenience of the reader and should not be construed as representations that the peso amounts actually represent such U.S. dollar amounts or could be converted into U.S. dollars at the rate indicated, or at all. For more information on exchange rates, see Item 3: “Key Information—Exchange Rates.” Amounts presented in this annual report may not add up due to rounding.

Industry and Market Data

We obtained the industry and market data used in this annual report from research, surveys or studies conducted by third parties on our behalf, information contained in third-party publications, such as the Mexican Institute of Statistics and Geography ( Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía ), or INEGI, reports from the Mexican Civil Aeronautic Authority ( Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil ), or the DGAC, reports from the Mexican Central Bank and other publicly available sources. Third-party publications generally state that they have obtained information from sources believed to be reliable, but do not guarantee the accuracy and completeness of such information. Although we believe that this data and information is reliable, we have not independently verified it. Additionally, certain market share data is based on published information available for the Mexican states. There is no comparable data available relating to the particular cities we serve. In presenting market share estimates for these cities, we have estimated the size of the market on the basis of the published information for the state in which the particular city is located. We believe this method is reasonable, but the results have not been verified by any independent source.

 

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