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.
Article continues after chart...

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.

Of Interest    12 Tips    Buses in Mexico    Friendlier Skies    Mexican Snacks    Travel Cheap    Travel Safe    Where to go

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.