Travel Now: The World’s Major Airlines are Courting Mexico

Whether you're coming from the U.S., Canada, or practically anywhere else for that matter, there have never been more flights to Mexico than there are now. And there will be even more in the future. Greater frequency is being incorporated to existing routes and new services are being added across the board.

The Mexico Board of Tourism and new President-Elect Felipe Calderon want to increase tourism and are pushing for more and better service.

Here's a quick list of what's new:

Delta is offering new non-stop service to Acapulco, Mérida, and Ixtapa (from Atlanta), Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco (from New York) and Mazatlan (from Salt Lake City). Further increases scheduled for December include nonstop service to León/Guanajuato (from Atlanta) and Mexico City (from Salt Lake City and Orlando). Californians: also slated for December are nine new flights from Los Angeles to various Mexican destinations.

Frontier Airlines may be a smaller carrier but they are keeping pace. A new route from Denver to Guadalajara will mark the eighth Mexican destination serviced by Frontier. The airline also plans to increase flight frequency (from Denver) to Cancún, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas, and add a non-stop flight from San Diego to Cancún.
United Airlines (in conjunction with its bargain counterpart, Ted Airlines) launched new routes from Los Angeles to Cancún and from Chicago to Puerto Vallarta earlier this year. Recently, a new Chicago-Cancún route was added, too.
American Airlines plans to start non-stop seasonal service from New York's JFK to Cabo. American's year-round flights to Cabo run from Dallas (three flights daily), Los Angeles (two flights daily) and Chicago (three flights weekly).
Alaska Airlines has announced the imminent addition of six more weekly flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco. The flights will increase existing service to the Mexican resort cities of Loreto, Manzanillo, Mazatlan and Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo. Also, expect new non-stop service to La Paz (from Los Angeles), Cabo and Puerto Vallarta (from Portland, OR), and Cancun (from San Francisco).
Northwest Airlines is adding seasonal flights from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Acapulco, Manzanillo, and Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo. The airline is awaiting government approval for seasonal service from Detroit to Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo and from Memphis to Cozumel.
In the near future, travelers can expect even more options, as other airlines are racing to expand service or get in on the lucrative Mexico market. For example:

Jetblue is testing the waters with temporary service from New York to Cancún.
AirCanada will operate 25 additional winter flights to Mexico. With new routes from Toronto (to Cozumel and Ixtapa) and Montreal (to Mexico City), the Canadian airline will be able to offer 61 non-stop flights per winter-week. Other seasonal flights service Cancún, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo, and Ixtapa.
Sunwing Airlines will introduce flights from Montreal and Ottawa to Acapulco and Cancún. Sunwing also boasts Toronto to Cozumel and Sudbury to Cancun winter routes.
Mexicana and its bargain-airline Mexicana Click will soon provide service to Cancún from Baltimore and Miami.I would also like to point out that domestic service has greatly increased. That's great news for me and other expats who are always looking to save on travel within our adopted country.

I have lots of options to choose from, as Avolar, ABC Interjet, Volaris, and Mexicana Click are competing to offer lower fares. I am also waiting for Aladia, a new airline, to initiate service. As far as I am concerned, the more competition there is, the better for all of us Mexico-lovers.

Best Regards,

Marzena Romanowicz,
International Living, Mexico

For answers to your questions about Mexico, e-mail Mexico@InternationalLiving.com.

P.S. Now that there are all these new flight options, I hope you can join us for our Live and Prosper in Mexico Seminar in San Miguel de Allende next month - October 29-31. One thing is certainly true, it is almost too easy to get to Mexico right now. You can register and book a flight all in a matter of minutes, so what's stopping you? Find out more about everything we have planned (a lot) here.