Renewed U.S., Mexico Aviation Agreement Expected to Drop Thorny Travel Restrictions

Travelers should soon have more choices for airline service to some popular Mexican resort destinations, as the U.S. and Mexico reached an aviation agreement on September 21 that lessens some of the restrictions on service between the two countries.

The existing aviation agreement restricts service in every U.S.-Mexico city-pair market to two carriers from each country.

The new deal, which the Transportation Department said will become effective when signed in “the near future,” makes room for a third carrier to provide service to 14 Mexican cities: Acapulco, Cancun, Cozumel, Guadalajara, Huatulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Loreto, Manzanillo, Mazatalan, Merida, Monterrey, Oaxaca, Puerto Vallarta and San Jose del Cabo.

The agreement also will let U.S. and Mexican carriers enter into code-sharing arrangements with carriers from third countries for their U.S.-Mexico services. It also increases from four to 10 the number of U.S. and Mexican carrier codes that may be carried in each city pair.

The deal updates the U.S.-Mexico agreement for the first time since 1999. The deal also lists Washington and Baltimore as separate points, instead of one destination, so that service can be increased to both cities.