Mexico’s flag provider is returning to Arizona’s capital metropolis for the primary time in additional than a decade.
Subsequent spring, Aeromexico will launch nonstop service from its Mexico Metropolis Worldwide Airport (MEX) hub to Phoenix Sky Harbor Worldwide Airport (PHX).
The brand new flights kick off March 30, marking the beginning of every day service between Phoenix and Mexico’s capital.
The transfer will bolster Aeromexico’s U.S. footprint, which has grown at a quick tempo in 2024.
However that broader progress, owed partly to a deep partnership with Delta Air Strains, is in a little bit of limbo amid a spat with the Biden administration that is left the 2 airways’ tie-up in jeopardy.
Aeromexico’s new Phoenix service
Aeromexico plans to function its every day Phoenix route with a Boeing 737 MAX jet. The schedule encompasses a late-morning flight north to Arizona and a day jaunt to Mexico Metropolis.
This is how the itinerary shakes out, with all instances native:
- PHX-MEX: Departs at 1:51 p.m., and arrives at 6 p.m.
- MEX-PHX: Departs at 9:55 a.m., and arrives at 12:25 p.m.
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Aeromexico may have some competitors on the route. American Airways presently flies between the 2 cities.
Nonetheless, the flights appear probably to attract robust demand.
Total demand for flights between Phoenix and Mexico has grown 155% in comparison with pre-coronavirus pandemic ranges, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego stated this week.
“We’re excited to welcome Aeromexico again to Phoenix Sky Harbor Worldwide Airport to serve this important market,” Gallego stated in a press release.
To Gallego’s level about welcoming Aeromexico “again” to town, Aeromexico is not a complete newcomer to Phoenix, but it surely’s been some time. The provider final flew to the Valley of the Solar in 2014, in accordance with information from aviation analytics agency Cirium.
Worth verify: Are airline bank cards price it anymore?
Aeromexico’s US progress faces uncertainty
Aeromexico’s plans to launch this new U.S. route in early 2025 come after a yr that introduced robust progress north of the border for the provider.
The full variety of seats Aeromexico flew to the U.S. this yr was up 24% versus 2019 — 5 years in the past.
Take a look at what Aeromexico’s U.S. community appeared like in October 2023 versus this month, per Cirium.
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Aeromexico’s routes to U.S. as of October 2023. CIRIUM
Touting that progress this week, airline leaders pointed to the corporate’s shut ties with Delta, with whom it operates a three way partnership. The association has been immediately accountable for the numerous progress of the 2 airways between the U.S. and Mexico.
That alliance, Aeromexico stated this week, has collectively fueled 28 new routes between the U.S. and Mexico this yr alone.
“This alliance solidifies Aeromexico and Delta because the airways with the perfect connectivity between the USA and Mexico,” Aeromexico stated this week. “By the top of 2024, we are going to collectively function 80 routes, with greater than 135 every day flights between each areas.”
Three way partnership below evaluation by the DOT
Nonetheless, that partnership stays in a state of flux.
Earlier this yr, the U.S. Division of Transportation tentatively declined to resume the carriers’ antitrust immunity permitting them to collaborate carefully on scheduling and connectivity — key points of their three way partnership. The DOT, on the time, cited anticompetitive issues arising out of the Mexican authorities’s administration of Mexico Metropolis’s airport.
Delta leaders have criticized the transfer as “regulatory overreach” and urged the DOT to rethink as a part of its ultimate determination.
DOT leaders Wednesday instructed TPG the state of affairs stays below evaluation and that the three way partnership is evident to proceed within the meantime, pending a ultimate determination.
Reserving flights on Aeromexico with factors and miles
Aeromexico is usually a helpful choice for vacationers hoping to fly to Mexico Metropolis or join to a different vacation spot in Mexico or Latin America.
However vacationers may discover worth, in some instances, in transferring bank card rewards to Aeromexico Rewards to ebook abroad flights — on Aeromexico (connecting at MEX, sometimes) or aboard a SkyTeam accomplice.
Remember that you probably have American Specific Membership Rewards factors, you’ll be able to switch your factors to Aeromexico at a 1:1.6 fee. That signifies that 1,000 Amex factors turn out to be 1,600 Aeromexico factors.
Capital One miles and Citi ThankYou Rewards switch to Aeromexico Rewards at a 1:1 fee.
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