The Venezuelan state Conviasa became the first international airline to confirm operations to and from the Mexican Felipe Ángeles airport, a flagship project of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that opens on March 21.
“Have you already bought your ticket for our inaugural flight to Santa Lucía, Mexico? We offer you a super special inaugural rate,” Conviasa said on its official Twitter account.
The Venezuelan company, sanctioned by the United States since 2020, currently operates the Caracas-Toluca and Caracas-Cancún routes.
Conviasa’s announcement comes two months after Mexico imposed visas on Venezuelans after detecting a growing number of travelers entering the country to try to reach the United States.
Thus, Mexico joined the extensive list of countries that require visas to the Venezuelans.
The Caribbean country has suffered in recent years a decrease in the supply of international flights as part of the worst crisis in its contemporary history, in addition to sanctions imposed by the United States.
The new Mexican airport, in the Santa Lucia Military Air BaseZumpango, state of Mexico, sparked criticism from opponents and aviation experts, as it involved the cancellation, by order of López Obrador, of the work to build a sumptuous airport in Texcoco.
The Texcoco terminal, also in the suburbs of Mexico City, had to supply the saturated capital airport, among the busiest in Latin America with a record 50.3 million passengers in 2019.
The Felipe Ángeles airport will operate in conjunction with the Mexico City airport, which has raised doubts among experts about the viability of two air terminals in an area 2,200 meters above sea level, surrounded by mountains and with a long rainy season. .
It was built by the Army at a cost of about $3.6 billion. Texcoco was going to cost 13,000 million dollars.
Domestic airlines like Aeromexicothe largest in the country, Volaris and Viva Aerobús also confirmed that they will operate at the new airport.