Flying in Mexico: Mexico’s Budget Airlines
For the longest time, air travel within Mexico was inconvenient and expensive.
Almost all flights on the major airlines, Aeromexico (www.aeromexico.com, tel. 01800/021-4030 in Mexico, 800/237-6639 in the U.S. or Canada) and Mexicana de Aviacion
(www.mexicana.com, tel. 01800/801-2010 in Mexico, 800/531-7921 in the U.S., 866/281-3049 in Canada) were routed through Mexico City. If you wanted to go from Monterrey to Puebla or from Colima to Tepic, costs were prohibitive and travel took most of the day.
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| Name |
Contact Info |
Destinations |
| Click de Mexicana |
01800/801–2010 (Mexico); 800/531–7921(U.S.); 866/281–3049 (Canada); www.click.com.mx |
Serving Aguascalientes, Chetumal, Ciudad del Carmen, Colima, Cozumel, Guadalajara, Huatulco, Leon,
Manzanillo, Merida, Mexico City, Nuevo Laredo, Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, Reynoso, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi,
Torreon, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Veracruz, Villahermosa, Zihuatanejo |
| Aerolineas Volaris |
55/1102–8000 or 01800/7–VOLARIS (Mexico); 866/988–3527 (U.S.); www.volaris.com.mx |
Serving Aguascalientes, Cancun, Ciudad Juarez, Culiacan, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Leon, Los Cabos, Merida, Mexicali, Monterrey, Morelia, Puebla, Tijuana, Toluca, Villahermosa |
| Avolar |
01800/2128–6527 (Mexico); 888/328–6527 (U.S.); www.avolar.com.mx |
Serving Acapulco, Aguascalientes, Colima, Cuernavaca, Culiacan, Durango, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Leon, Morelia, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Tapachula, Tepic, Tijuana, Toluca, Uruapan, Zacatecas |
| Aviacsa |
55/5482-8280 or 01800/ AVIACSA (Mexico); 800/967-5263 (U.S.); www.aviacsa.com |
Serving Cancun, Ciudad Juarez, Chetumal, Culiacan, Hermosillo, Guadalajara, Las Vegas, Leon, Merida, Mexico City, Monterrey, Morelia, Puerto Vallarta, Tampico, Tapachula, Tijuana, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Veracruz, Villahermosa |
| Aero California |
1-800/237-6225 from the U.S.
01800/237-6225 from Mexico
; www.aerocalifornia.com |
Flying from Tijuana, Hermosillo, Colima, Culiacan, Guadalajara, Puebla, Durango, Tepic, Mazatlan, Mexico City, La Paz |
| Aeromar |
55/5133-1111; www.aeromar.com.mx |
San Antonio (USA) and Guatemala City, Guatemala as well as Acapulco, Cancun, Ciudad del Carmen, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Guadalajara, Ixtapa/nZihuatanejo, Merida, Monterrey, Puerto Vallarta, Tampico, Toluca, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Veracruz |
| Alma de Mexico |
33/3836-0770 or 01800/800-2562 (Mexico) or 888/811-2562 (USA); www.alma.com.mx |
Aguascalientes, Cancun, Ciudad Juarez, Cuidad del Carmen, Ciudad Obregon, Chetumal, Chihuahua, Guadalajara, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, La Paz, Los Mochis, Mazatlan, Merida, Monterrey, Oaxaca, Poza Rica, Puebla, Puerto Vallarta, Queretaro, Reynosa, Tampico, Tijuana, Torreon, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Veracruz, Villahermosa |
| Interjet |
55/1102-5555 or 01800/011-2345; www.interjet.com.mx |
Acapulco, Cancún, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Cuernavaca, Culiacán, Hermosillo, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo León/El Bajío, Mazatlán, Mérida, Mexicali, Morelia, Puerto Vallarta, Querétaro, Tijuana, Veracruz, Villahermosa |
| Viva Aerobus |
818/215-0150 (Mexico); 888/935-9848 (USA); www.vivaaerobus.com |
Acapulco, Cancún, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Cuernavaca, Culiacán, Hermosillo, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo León/El Bajío, Mazatlán, Mérida, Mexicali, Morelia, Puerto Vallarta, Querétaro, Tijuana, Veracruz, Villahermosa |
| Nova Air |
55/5095-5000 or 01800/300-6682 (Mexico); www.novaair.net |
private charters between airports throughout the United States, Mexico and South America |
But finally some new, smaller airlines with internal routes have surfaced to serve tourists as well as
business travelers within Mexico. Now you can book the above-mentioned scenarios at low cost.
Most flights are between larger cities and resort destinations, however; there are few if any flights between Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta, for example. But even flights routed through Mexico City are much cheaper on these budget airlines than when booked on the major national or international carriers.
There’s no substantial savings by booking round-trip, so one-way trips allow you to travel by bus or taxi between cities, booking the next segment of your trip on the same or another small carrier.
We recently found a flight on Aviacsa from Tijuana to Merida for less than US$100 one way, even with a stop in Mexico City. You could return to Tijuana from Merida, or travel from Merida to Cancun by bus (about 4 hours), and fly from Cancun to Tijuana, again via Mexico City and once again, for less than US$100.
If you aren’t close to---or don’t feel comfortable---flying in and out of border cities such as Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, or Nuevo Laredo, you can still access your primary destination on an international carrier and make use of the smaller airlines for internal travel, booking an open-jaw (in one city and out of another) or typical round-trip fare.
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