Aug. 26--Aeromexico, which resumed service from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to Mexico City last September amid much fanfare, is ceasing service there again. The last flight is Sept. 8.
Aeromexico's Fort Lauderdale station manager Ivette Lizaso sent an e-mail to the airport Aug. 17 announcing the decision, which she said is a result of "the recent reallocation of resources."
"The fact is that the market has not responded as well as we had hoped and expected," Bruce Hicks, an Aeromexico spokesman, said Friday. "So the decision is that we will shift our resources around to better performing markets."
He would not comment on the occupancy levels of the Fort Lauderdale flights, or whether they were unprofitable. No layoffs were involved.
Aeromexico will continue all of its service out of Miami and Orlando -- 24 flights a week and eight flights a week, respectively, Hicks said.
The flight from Fort Lauderdale was part of Aeromexico's international push, making the Broward city its 14th U.S. destination and third in Florida.
Because it offered nonstop service to an unserved international destination, the airline benefited from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood's incentive program, saving an estimated $292,440 for its use of the airport for one year.
Aeromexico had stopped flying to Fort Lauderdale in July 2004, when it canceled its four-times-a-week flight after a one-year trial.
"We're always sad to see an airline come and then depart," said Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood spokesman Greg Meyer, "because it takes one more option for the community here in Fort Lauderdale."
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