Calafia Airlines


Calafia Airlines, legally Calafia Airlines S.A. de C.V. was a Mexican regional airline based in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico. It operated regular flights to the Baja California Peninsula, the Mexican Pacific coast and Northern Mexico, in addition to charter flights and tours. Its main hub is Cabo [San Lucas International Airport|Cabo San Lucas Airport] and has focus city operations in La Paz and Loreto. It operated a fleet consisting of Embraer regional jet aircraft. It was named after Calafia, the legendary warrior queen of the island of California.

History

Established in 1992, Aéreo Calafia started operations in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur. The company offered a variety of services, encompassing air taxi, charter flights, and short-distance tourist flights. Initially, the company owned two compact Cessna C206 aircraft and a Cessna Caravan with passenger capacities of 5 and 12, respectively.
By 1995, the company had expanded its operations and ventured into organizing tours for visitors in the Los Cabos region. Aéreo Calafia became the first regional airline to offer tours for observing grey whales, at the Sea of Cortez during the winter months. They also successfully introduced tours to destinations such as San Ignacio Lagoon, Copper Canyon, Misión de [Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó|Loreto], Cabo Pulmo National Park, and La Paz, [Baja California Sur|La Paz]. These distinctive offerings remained a hallmark of Aéreo Calafia, differentiating it from other airlines.
File:Ex-Calafia Airlines Embraer ERJ-145LR parked at Kingman, AZ.jpg|thumb|Ex-Calafia Embraer ERJ-145 parked at Kingman Airport
Over the years, the airline has transformed into a prominent regional Mexican carrier, featuring a modern fleet of Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia and Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft, with passenger seating for 36 and 50, respectively. It also added new cities to its network, including Chihuahua, Guadalajara, Tijuana, Mexicali, León, and Monterrey, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. This growth trajectory has been remarkable since its establishment in the 1990s as an air taxi service provider.
Calafia Airlines was named Aéreo Calafia until mid-2016 when it rebranded itself as Calafia Airlines as part of a rebranding project and commercial expansion announcing plans for new routes within Mexico and international destinations.
In 2017, it unveiled routes connecting the Pacific to the Gulf and initiated the Guadalajara-Puebla-Tuxtla-Palenque-Cancún route; as of 2023, such routes, in addition to Mexicali, Leon and Monterrey are no longer served. In August 2023, Calafia Airlines suspended operations temporarily due to pending procedures with the Mexican Civil Aviation Federal Agency, leaving passengers stranded. Calafia Airlines had faced a complex recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The company carried 49,698 passengers between January and June 2023, a 34.5% recovery versus the same period in 2019. According to data from the Mexican government, Calafia Airlines only had one aircraft in its fleet at the end of 2023’s second quarter. This aircraft is an Embraer E145ER.

Destinations

Calafia Airlines had the following destinations:

Baja California Sur

Baja California

Current fleet

, Calafia Airlines operates the following aircraft:
AircraftIn serviceOrdersPassengersNotes
Embraer EMB 120ER2—
Embraer ERJ 145EP1—
Embraer ERJ 145ER1—
Embraer ERJ 145LR1—
Total5—

Historic fleet

Calafia Airlines also previously operated the following aircraft types: