Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V.

The pre-operations phase, the founding of the legal entities and setting up of the required infrastructure, started in August 2005 under the name Vuela Airlines. The idea for the airline was formed from the proposed "Vuelamex" project. Major initial shareholders of the company were Grupo Televisa (the world's biggest Spanish-language media conglomerate), Inbursa (an insurance company owned by multi-billionaire Carlos Slim ), TACA Airlines, and the Discovery Americas Fund. Each of these partners invested 25% of the initial cost of activities, or 100 million USD.

In July 2010, it was announced that Televisa and Inbursa had sold their stake in Volaris, leaving the ownership of Volaris as follows: TACA Airlines with Roberto and Maria Cristina Kriete (50%), Investment fund Discovery Americas (over 25%), and Indigo Partners: Fund led by former America West CEO Bill Franke.

Ticket sales started in January 2006. Following the delivery of the airline's first aircraft, the first non-commercial flight was operated in February 2006. Scheduled revenue flights were launched on March 13, 2006, with the inaugural flight being between Toluca and Tijuana.

Volaris began service to Mexico City in September 2010 after absorbing flight routes from two defunct Mexican airlines, Aerocalifornia and Mexicana. In March 2011, the airline announced that its hub in Toluca would move to Guadalajara.

In June 2012, the airline launched a frequent flyer program called VClub. [ non-primary source needed ] In June 2012, PayPal became a payment alternative for the airline, enabling customers to purchase tickets directly from the airline's website. [ non-primary source needed ] In September 2012, Volaris announced a codeshare partnership with a German airline, Condor. Passengers of Condor are able to fly to more international destinations.

On March 13, 2013, the airline celebrated its seventh anniversary, offering passengers 70% off all flights, and has done this every year since then. Volaris announced the creation of a subsidiary, Volaris Costa Rica, in March 2016. The subsidiary, based at Juan Santamaría International Airport in the Costa Rican capital of San José, started operations in November 2016.

As of 2022, Volaris has faced multiple class-action lawsuits due to failure to properly refund flights canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In December 2025, Volaris and competitor Viva have signed an agreement to form a holding company, creating the largest low-cost airline group in Mexico. The deal aims to lower fleet costs, while both airlines would maintain their brands.

In 2025, Mexico's Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) authorized Volaris to operate 10 aircraft with foreign pilots between December 1, 2025, and January 12, 2026; the Association of Airline Pilots of Mexico (ASPA) claim the decision breaches Mexico's Constitution and Civil Aviation Law.