The brand Mexicana de Aviación returns to the skies today after being grounded for 13 years, although under an unthinkable paradigm until a few years ago: as a property of the Mexican federal state and using Boeing 737NG aircraft from the Air Force.
The inaugural flight is scheduled for 7 a.m. this Tuesday, December 26, departing from the Felipe Ángeles International Airport serving Mexico City to the recently inaugurated Tulum International Airport in the Mexican Caribbean, thus closing the triad of aeronautical projects of the administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, perhaps with the most incomprehensible aspect of all considering that the Mexican state could attend to other priorities before creating a new airline which at best would not be profitable until 2028 (as announced by the same officials), and when the country has a quite dynamic sector led by Aeroméxico, Viva Aerobus, and Volaris, in addition to other regional operators like TAR or Aerus.
See also: The inauguration of the Tulum airport, the fourth air entrance to Quintana Roo
Following Tulum, Tijuana and, for the remainder of 2023, Puerto Vallarta, Monterrey, Mérida, Mazatlán, Chetumal, and Campeche will be added. In parallel, the joint operation with TAR Airlines will be deployed, through what they called «Link Conexión Aérea» operating with Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft to Acapulco, Ciudad Victoria, Guadalajara, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Ixtepec, Palenque, Uruapan, and Villahermosa.
How much does it cost to fly with Mexicana de Aviación?
After a quite messy process rushed by the times of politics, Mexicana de Aviación was only able to launch the commercialization of its flights last Friday after obtaining its Air Operator Certificate.
According to a survey conducted by Aviacionline, these are the prices on the different routes of the company (expressed in one-way / per segment and does not include TUA – USD 1 = MEX 17):
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- Acapulco; between MEX 428-509.
- Ciudad Victoria; between MEX 1,241-1,271
- Campeche; between MEX 2,599-2,115.
- Chetumal; between MEX 1,089-1,065.
- Guadalajara; between MEX 560-609.
- Ixtepec; between MEX 1,404 – 1,543.
- Mazatlán; between MEX 1,079-949.
- Mérida; between MEX 1,049-1,099.
- Monterrey; between MEX 589-749.
- Palenque; between MEX 1,615 – 2,341.
- Puerto Vallarta; between MEX 949-1,039.
- Tijuana; MEX 1,189
- Tulum; between MEX 389-909.
- Uruapan; between MEX 1,428-1,457.
- Villahermosa; between MEX 616-716.
According to the airline’s reservation system, it will initially have 80 weekly flights to 16 destinations, equivalent to three daily flights. This represents a significant reduction compared to the initial plans announced in October, which
