Riviera Maya, Q.R. — More than 300 international air routes have been added to Mexico’s itinerary since 2019. The Secretary of Tourism of the Government of Mexico reports 331 new international air routes have been added during the current administration.
Miguel Torruco Marqués, who heads Mexico’s Tourism (Sectur), says the new routes have been added between 2019 and 2022. He says of the seven national airlines that operated international flights in those years, Aeroméxico, Volaris and Viva Aerobus transported the most passengers in 2022 with 5.6 million, 4.8 million and 2 million, respectively.
He says according to the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) and the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT), in 2019, 82 new international air routes were created, of which 58 correspond to the North American region, seven from Europe, 16 from the Central, South American and Caribbean region, and one from Asia.
In 2020, 65 new international air routes were reported, 39 from North America, two from Europe, 22 from Central, South America and the Caribbean and two from Asia.
In 2021, 69 new international air routes were registered, 42 from North America, 10 from Europe and 17 from Central, South America and the Caribbean, and that during 2022, 115 new international air routes were added, 59 of which were from North America, 11 from Europe, 44 from the Central, South American and Caribbean region and one more from Asia.
Torruco Marqués says that in 2023 there is programming for 34,192,000 international airline seats into Mexico which represents 5.2 percent more than what was programmed in 2022. For national services, he says there are 81,949,000 airline seats scheduled, which is a 10.2 percent increase over 2022.
He emphasized that air connectivity is the cornerstone of tourist activity, since it contributes to the diversification of travelers to different destinations.
Torruco Marqués also says Mexico is still working to recover its Category 1 air safety status, which, once obtained, will allow a new stage in air connectivity to take place with more Mexican airline flights into the U.S.
“Shortly we will recover Category 1, which will allow a new stage in air connectivity to take place soon with more flights from Mexican airlines between our country and the United States.”
