Low-cost airline adds three flights to Mexico from the U.S. | Louis Velazquez - Official Website, Entrepreneur, Finance, Technology

While not a primary destination for Mexico-bound American tourists as an inland city in the west-central part of the country, Guadalajara is often referred to as Mexico’s “cultural heartland.” That’s because so many of the nation’s most-recognized cultural symbols emerged there: mariachi music, “charrería” Mexican rodeo, and tequila (the blue agave fields from which the spirit is made begin just outside the city limits while the namesake town of Tequila is a 45-minute highway drive away).

As tourism numbers to Guadalajara continue to increase (Guadalajara International Airport saw, at over one million passengers, the highest June on record this year), airlines are rushing to launch new routes before competitors do the same.

Volaris, a publicly-traded budget airline based in Mexico City, just announced plans to start three routes to Guadalajara (GDL) from the U.S. this fall: the flights to Raleigh-Durham International (RDU), Boston Logan (BOS) and Nashville International (BNA) will debut on Oct. 16.

This news comes after Volaris already announced new routes to Washington Dulles (IAD) and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) earlier this year. The launch date of these two routes was pushed up to the same Oct. 16 start date after initially being slated for the end of the summer.

Volaris to start flights to Guadalajara from Raleigh-Durham, Boston and Nashville

Volaris already flies more than 30 routes to different cities in the U.S., including routes to Guadalajara from smaller California cities like Fresno and Sacramento.

“Volaris’ arrival in Nashville marks an important milestone in the expansion of our international service for the Middle Tennessee region,” Doug Kreulen, the president and chief executive of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, said in a statement. “This new nonstop route to Guadalajara gives our travelers direct access to one of Mexico’s most important cultural and economic hubs, along with convenient connections to key destinations across the country and beyond through Volaris’ largest hub.”

The heads of the airport authorities in Raleigh-Durham and Boston put out similar statements praising the routes as meeting demand amid both leisure and business travelers (Guadalajara is also home to thousands of tech companies and so often called the “Silicon Valley of Mexico”).

Volaris is a budget airline based in Mexico with a significant network of flights to different U.S. cities.

Image source: Shutterstock

“We are extending our wings to new U.S. cities”: Volaris

The routes were launched ahead of the sun-seeking season during which more travelers from colder U.S. cities look to book trips to Mexico and other warmer destinations. Some, like the Atlanta route, will run daily while others will fly three times a week on different days.

Tickets on all five new routes are already available to purchase. Volaris has a fleet of predominantly Airbus A320-200, Airbus A320neo and A321 aircraft.

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“Guadalajara is one of the pillars of our connectivity strategy,” Holger Blankenstein, Volaris’ executive vice president of commercial and operations, said in the airline’s own statement. “From here, we are extending our wings to new U.S. cities so our customers can travel more, discover new destinations, visit their loved ones, and take advantage of new opportunities, always with accessible fares, direct flights, and the quality of service that defines Volaris.”