Mexico and the Aviation Sector: Partners for the Long Haul

MEXICO CITY, July 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — International airlines continue to build capacity into Mexico, which is developing into a key aviation hub of North America due to an increase in demand from international passengers seeking to visit or do business in Mexico. As recently as June 2011, American Eagle, launched a new route between Dallas and Mazatlan.

Virgin America recently launched nonstop flights from San Francisco International to Cabo San Lucas (December 2010) and Virgin Atlantic has announced that it will launch a bi-weekly service between London and Cancun in June 2012 utilizing its 747-400 jumbos.

Brazilian carrier TAM will commence direct flights between Sao Paulo and Mexico City this year and local carrier AeroMexico increased their flights in July from Barcelona to Mexico City, growing from four movements per week to six, and from Madrid to Mexico City, growing from seven to eleven frequencies per week thanks to their code share operations with Air Europa. AeroMexico has also announced that by the end of the first half of 2011 it will operate new flights between the following destinations: Monterrey-Brownsville, Guadalajara-Sacramento, Guadalajara-Fresno, Mexico-Guatemala, Cancun-Miami, Leon-Monterrey-Chicago and Guadalajara-San Francisco.

The growth in the sector is intrinsically linked to a rise in demand by customers for additional capacity into Mexico.

In April 2011, the arrival in Mexico of passengers on international flights increased by 3.8 percent, year on year – this represents 1,141,159 passengers over the period.