Volaris to Start Flying from Fresno to Mexico City. When will the Service Begin?

International nonstop service to and from Fresno Yosemite International Airport is expected to expand this fall with direct flights to Mexico City.

Volaris, a low-cost airline based in Mexico, announced it will begin offering nonstop flights twice a week between Fresno and Mexico’s capital starting Nov. 12. Tickets for the year-round route went on sale earlier this week.

“Mexico City is a big deal,” said Kevin Meikle, director of aviation for the city of Fresno. “It’s one of the largest cities in the world, it’s a major center for culture and business, and there’s probably no better place to launch into other parts of Mexico or South America.”

The announcement of the new Fresno route is part of a broader wave of route changes by Volaris. Also in November, the airline expects to begin offering nonstop flights to Mexico City from three other California cities –Sacramento, San Jose and Ontario – as well as from Houston, Texas.

“The direct flight between the nation’s capital city and Fresno would bring more opportunities for commerce and would open the gateway to southern Mexico for binational families and tourism,” Adriana Gonzalez Carrillo, consul titular for the Mexican Consulate in Fresno, said in a written statement.

Volaris began flights between Fresno and Mexico in 2011, starting with service between Guadalajara and Fresno before expanding with nonstop flights to Morelia in late 2017 and to Leon in 2019.

Both Volaris and Aeromexico, which also offers Fresno-Guadalajara flights, grounded their services to Fresno at the beginning of April because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Volaris started flying again on June 1, Meikle said, but has yet to resume the Leon route.

Aeromexico resumed its Guadalajara flights on July 1, a day after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S.

“As we got into the summer, both Volaris and Aeromexico are almost back to their normal schedules as if there was no pandemic,” Meikle told The Bee on Thursday. “And the flights were full.”

Volaris will fly the Fresno-Mexico City route using 179-seat Airbus A320 jets. The schedule calls for flights departing from Mexico City on Wednesday and Saturday nights, with the return trip from Fresno leaving at 12:30 a.m. on Thursdays and Sundays.

“Our goal with the opening of the new route from Mexico City to Fresno Yosemite Airport is to further serve the Mexican community in California,” said Volaris’ market development director Miguel Aguiñiga Rodriguez.

COVID-19 response and precautions

International flights remain a source of caution for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the global COVID-19 pandemic persists in both the United States and Mexico.

“COVID-19 risk in Mexico is high,” the CDC warns on its website, cautioning against all nonessential international travel to the country.

“Older adults, people of any age with certain underlying medical conditions, and others at increased risk for severe illness should consider postponing all travel, including essential travel to Mexico,” the warning adds.

Medical aid, family emergencies or humanitarian aid work are cited by the CDC as examples of essential travel between the two countries.

A coronavirus pandemic tracker maintained by the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine reports that Mexico has more than 537,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including more than 58,000 deaths.

In the U.S., more than 5.5 million cases had been identified as of Thursday, and the disease has claimed almost 174,000 lives. Nearly 650,000 of the U.S. cases, and more than 11,700 of the fatalities, have been in California.

Meikle noted that all of the airlines serving Fresno, including Volaris and Aeromexico, are taking precautions to protect people from COVID-19. Increased measures are also in place at the airport as well, he said.

“All of the airlines have been good,” Meikle said. All of the airlines require passengers to wear masks, and have upgraded their cleaning processes. Additionally, passengers boarding flights to the U.S. from Mexico are screened for fever twice before they’re allowed on the aircraft – once when they check in at the ticket counter, Meikle said, and again when they’re at the boarding gate.

“They don’t even let you board if you have a temperature,” he said.

At Fresno Yosemite International Airport, plastic shields are in place at ticket counters, and masks are required inside the terminal. Social distancing measures are in place throughout the airport, including the security checkpoints and in the international arrivals area.

The airport has set up an informational website to let passengers know the coronavirus safety precautions in place before they fly.

———

Visit The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.) at www.fresnobee.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.