Oct. 11—San Antonio business travelers will be able to fly nonstop to Torreón, Mexico — a hub of the electronics and automotive industries — starting in June.
The announcement of the new flights — from Mexican low-cost carrier Viva Aerobus — comes a week after the airline said it would start nonstop service to Querétaro, Mexico, which also has a strong automotive industry.
Airport Director Jesus Saenz said pursuing a route to Torreón in northern Mexico was "a strategic decision," and that the service will benefit both business and leisure travelers. Saenz said travel time will be as many as six hours faster with the nonstop flight.
"This new service helps to connect people involved in silver refining, automotive parts and electronics industries to Comarca Lagunera — known as the 'region of lagoons,'" he said. "It's also a popular destination for many San Antonians with friends and family there. Now you can find an affordable fare to make the trip down from San Antonio — in less than two hours."
San Antonio will be the second city in the U.S., behind Dallas, to offer a direct flight to Torreón.
The flights will run on Tuesdays and Saturdays, departing from San Antonio International Airport at 12:20 p.m. and arriving in Mexico at 1 p.m. Returning flights leave Mexico at 2 p.m. and get to San Antonio at 4:40 p.m.
Viva will use A320s, which have a seating capacity of 186, for the new route.
Automotive parts make up a large chunk of Torreón's exports, accounting for about 20 percent of the region's $4.1 billion in international sales.
Torreón is a fast-growing city in the state of Coahuila, its population rising about 13 percent between 2010 and 2020, to 720,848. But it's far smaller than Querétaro, which has 2.4 million residents.
This is San Antonio's 44th nonstop destination. Seven of the city's eight nonstop international flights go to Mexico.
Viva flies to Leon, Mexico City and Monterrey out of San Antonio, and will add Querétaro in December.
When the new flight to Torreón takes off in June, Viva will also increase the number of flights to Leon from three times to four times per week.
Last month, San Antonio officials announced the city's first nonstop service to Europe. German leisure carrier Condor will operate seasonal nonstop flights to and from Frankfurt, Germany, beginning in May.
City officials, Greater: SATX, the regional economic development group, and Visit San Antonio have their eyes on nonstop service to 18 cities in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe. Querétaro and Frankfurt were two names on the list, which also includes London.
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