Aeromexico is continuing to add service to the U.S. during the upcoming northern winter season despite the ongoing uncertainty surrounding its transborder joint venture with Delta Air Lines.
The carrier has scheduled the launch of four new routes, which will increase its network to 35 nonstop transborder sectors by the end of the year. The move will grow capacity to about 133,000 two-way weekly seats, up from 121,000 at present, according to OAG Schedules Analyser data.
The flights being added this winter will include a daily service between Mexico City Juarez International Airport (MEX) and New York’s Newark Liberty International Airport starting Oct. 28, operated with Boeing 737-8 aircraft.
Two new routes will also open from Manzanillo, a Pacific Ocean port city and resort in the Mexican state of Colima. The first service will start on Nov. 3, linking Manzanillo’s Aeropuerto Internacional Playa de Oro (ZLO) with Delta’s hub at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Operations will be weekly through April 27, 2025.
The second service will connect ZLO and Los Angeles International Airport starting Dec. 21, operating weekly with 737-800s through April 26. Additionally, starting on the same day, Aeromexico will begin flying between Monterrey and Denver. This route will be served weekly using 737-8s until April 19.
The latest round of route additions comes after the SkyTeam alliance member commenced new services from MEX to Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina; Salt Lake City; Tampa, Florida; and Washington Dulles in July, with a Queretaro-Atlanta route due to begin in August.
However, Aeromexico has made some cutbacks in recent months, ending Merida-Atlanta service in June and scheduling the suspension of its newly launched Mexico City-Salt Lake City route next month. Additionally, several routes from Guadalajara to destinations including Chicago O’Hare and Sacramento, California, are being paused or seeing frequency reductions in September and October.
Aeromexico and Delta are currently awaiting a final verdict on the fate of their transborder joint venture after the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) in January issued a tentative decision stating it would not renew antitrust immunity between the two SkyTeam partners.
The DOT argues that Mexico violated the air transport agreement between the countries by requiring all-cargo operators to move from MEX to Felipe Ángeles International Airport, as well as by imposing new flight operation limits at MEX, reducing them from 52 per hour to 43.
However, Delta has been working with the U.S. government to create a less punitive solution to the tentative decision to terminate the link-up, which was launched in 2017.
Aeromexico’s planned U.S. additions come as Mexico’s Tourism Ministry announced the country's airports handled 30.9 million international passengers during the first six months of 2024, marking a rise of 19.4% on the same period in 2019. The largest number of passengers were from North America (15.7 million), followed by Central and South America (2 million), Europe (1.9 million) and Asia (151,239). Domestic traffic totaled 29.5 million passengers, up by almost 15% on 2019 levels.
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