Armando Gonzalez Gonzalez. Mexicana de Aviacion Regional Manager in Cuba
<b> Q- How are you taking on this new job as Mexicana de Aviacion Regional Manager in Cuba? </b>
A- I´m really thrilled. Here I´ve found an interesting working team, a well-trained sales staff and I must say that the operational efficiency we´ve achieved is thanks to Havana´s top-flight airport services, something we know too well is part of an admirable endeavor.
<b> Q- What major challenges must you face up to in your new job? </b>
A- I´ve got some challenges ahead of me, but the greatest of all is the strengthening of the Cuban market. We´re gunning for a 3 percent increase in the number of passengers for the first quarter of 2004, that means shuttling 45,000 passengers between Mexico and Havana.
<b> Q- What does the Mexico-Havana route mean to Mexicana´s daily going? </b>
A- Mexicana de Aviacion has always put this route high on its list of major travel destinations. As a matter of fact, Mexicana has been flying to Havana since 1931. I should say (this route) is considered the second or third most important connection in the region as far as airborne passengers and revenues are concerned. In addition, it´s a good means to strengthen ties of friendship and solidarity between our two nations.
<b> Q- Do you view safety, punctuality, operational efficiency and occupancy as top working priorities in your job? </b>
A- Absolutely. All of them are highly important. Lack of occupancy is as if you had an artist performing onstage in an empty theater.
<b> Q- You mentioned earlier the Mexico-Havana route holds a 66 percent occupancy rate, didn´t you? </b>
A- That was last year´s occupancy when the airline carried 83,200 passengers in a grand total of 365 round-trip flights.
<b> Q- What´s the forecast for this year? </b>
A- We´re planning on reaching 45,000 flown passengers in the first half of 2004, up 3 percent from the numbers posted the year before. The idea is to fly 95,000 passengers this year, and that´d be a 5 percent increment from 2003. We know this is a tough commitment because there´s a market shrinkage going on right now as a result of the economic crisis, so that forces us to step up promotion and advertisement efforts within Mexico and beyond our borders, in other sale outlets such as, say, Toronto and Montreal.
<b> Q- What other projects does the Havana Office have in store? </b>
A- We´ll have an additional flight to Varadero in April given the huge volume of passengers traveling to that destination, which is, you know, Cuba´s premier sun-and-sand destination. Then in May, we´ll attend the International Tourism Convention together with Aerocaribe, our affiliated airline that covers the markets of the Mayan Riviera, Cancun, Merida and the Gulf of Mexico.
