Alaska Airlines launches nonstop service from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Mexico City

Alaska Airlines today launched service to Mexico City’s Benito Juarez International Airport from two major California hubs: San Francisco International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.

Later this fall, Alaska Airlines will also add service from San Diego International Airport to Mexico City, becoming the only airline to serve Mexico City from all three California gateways.

Alaska Airlines will mark the occasion this morning with a Mexico-style send-off for guests onboard the airline’s inaugural flight from San Francisco including a live mariachi band, churros and traditional Mexican libations. The launch to Mexico City kicks off the most significant network expansion in Alaska Air Group’s 85-year history with 29 new routes launching through the end of 2017.

“With nearly three decades of service to Mexico, we’re thrilled to return to the capital city of Mexico and continue to provide the most flights from California to Mexico of any U.S.-based carrier,” said Annabel Chang, vice president – Bay Area for Alaska Airlines. “Service into Mexico City is key to our strategy to becoming the go-to airline for travelers on the West Coast. We look forward to welcoming our guests onboard and becoming the only airline to offer service to Mexico City from the three largest cities in California.”

“I am confident that these flights will result in opportunities to promote our culture and also increase a reciprocal flow of both business and leisure travelers,” said Gemi José González López, Consul General of Mexico in San Francisco. “Mexico City and San Francisco are places where history and tradition meet creative contemporary ideas. Alaska Airlines shares this vision and has become the driving force for strengthening trade, cultural ties and, above all, the partnership and friendship between Mexico and the San Francisco Bay Area.”

The year-round nonstop service will operate once daily between Mexico City and San Francisco, twice daily between Mexico City and Los Angeles and once daily between Mexico City and San Diego (starting November 6). The new service is the ninth destination Alaska serves to Mexico from California, including Cancun, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Loreto, Los Cabos, Manzanillo, Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara.

Alaska began flying to Mexico in 1988 and today operates over 100 flights a week—more than any other U.S. carrier from California. Alaska previously served Mexico City from 2005 to 2015.

The Mexico City flights will operate using fuel-efficient Boeing 737 and Embraer 175 aircraft.