AeroMexico Launches New Orleans – Mexico City – San Pedro Sula Service Today with Airline, Civic, Airport Officials

Officials from AeroMexico, the City of New Orleans, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and other organizations celebrated the airline’s launch today of six weekly, non-stop flights between New Orleans and Mexico City with connecting service to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. AeroMexico’s first flight departed New Orleans at 6:20 a.m. CDT with its arrival in Mexico City scheduled at 9:00 a.m. CDT. The connecting flight to San Pedro Sula departs Mexico City at 10.35 a.m., arriving at 11:55 a.m. Return flights depart San Pedro Sula at 12:45 p.m., arriving in Mexico City at 4:10 p.m. Connecting flights in Mexico City depart at 8:30 p.m., arriving in New Orleans at 10:50 p.m.

Special presentations and a ribbon-cutting event were held at the airport before the inaugural flight. Presenters included Frank Galan, Vice President, U.S. Division, AeroMexico; Mayor Ray Nagin, City of New Orleans; Dan Parker, Chairman, New Orleans Aviation Board; and Ruberman Aldana, Regional Sales Director, Central U.S. and Canada, AeroMexico.

Their comments emphasized the importance of AeroMexico’s new flights in expanding international business, travel and tourism between these already closely aligned markets. They also reinforced the importance of the strategic partnership that has supported the route’s launch and the airline’s commitment to providing travelers with outstanding service and value in today’s challenging economic times.

Frank Galan, Vice President, U.S. Operations, AeroMexico, said, “AeroMexico is proud to be part of today’s historic launch of non-stop international airline service in New Orleans for the first time in four years. This route represents a successful collaboration between our airline, the City of New Orleans, the Greater New Orleans Inc. and others who have joined together to meet a real need in the marketplace.

“AeroMexico’s schedule of six weekly, non-stop flights to Mexico City with connecting service to San Pedro Sula provides convenient travel options for both business and leisure travelers,” he added. “For many years, New Orleans stood out as one of the top international travel destinations in the United States. The area’s resurgence as a major global market should be enhanced significantly by having regularly scheduled, non-stop international flights operating again.”

“With this new flight, we expect to see increased business relationships among our countries, more travel to South America by New Orleanians and a larger number of international tourists,” said Mayor C. Ray Nagin. “This is also a strong signal of our continuing recovery and our success story less than four years after the impact of Hurricane Katrina.”

Dan Packer, Chairman, New Orleans Aviation Board, said, “The return of regularly scheduled international air service to Armstrong International is a major victory for our region. We are certain that AeroMexico will find great success with this first flight and that additional service will follow.”

Sal Figueroa, Director, International Relations, Greater New Orleans Inc., said, “Greater New Orleans Inc. is proud to have served as the coordinator of the tremendous team that worked with AeroMexico to establish this important new route. We know that the confidence AeroMexico has shown in the Greater New Orleans region, as well as the State of Louisiana, will prove to be justified. We encourage the citizens of Louisiana and the Gulf region to support this flight to ensure its success so that it serves as the model for many other new international routes we hope to attract to the Louis Armstrong International Airport.”

AeroMexico’s international flights have been launched to meet increasing market demand in the greater New Orleans area, based on cultural, business and tourism trends. The area has the fastest growing Hispanic population in the United States with almost 250,000 individuals of Latino origin. This includes one of the largest Honduran populations, estimated at more than 80,000, in the U.S.

Economic ties between these markets will benefit from this new airline service, according to the Greater New Orleans Inc., the region’s economic development organization. The Mexico Tourism Board and the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau also anticipate increased international tourism opportunities with this new airline service.

This new service represents the latest move in AeroMexico’s strategic expansion of its North American operations. This year, the airline has added seven new routes between Mexico and the following U.S. and Canadian markets – New Orleans, Las Vegas, Denver, Albuquerque, San Francisco, Toronto (first Canadian market) and Montreal. AeroMexico now serves more U.S. and Canadian cities than any other Mexico-based airline.

AeroMexico is servicing the New Orleans market with ERJ-145 regional jets, which comfortably seat 50 passengers. The airline provides a personalized style of in-flight service that includes complimentary beverages, cocktails and complete meals at meal times. This premier service combined with competitive fares delivers outstanding value for travelers. The airline has been recognized with “Best Airline in Mexico” awards in 2008 from readers of both Global Traveler and Business Traveler magazines, two of the world’s leading travel publications.

AeroMexico and its subsidiary, AeroMexico Connect, operate more than 600 daily flights through the airline’s new Terminal 2 at its Mexico City International Airport hub to more than 45 destinations in Mexico, 17 U.S. cities in 12 states, two cities in two Canadian markets, and major international destinations that include Tokyo, Paris and Buenos Aires in 12 other countries worldwide. U.S. cities served are New Orleans, Los Angeles, Ontario (Ca.), San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle-Tacoma, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver, San Antonio, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, Orlando and Miami. AeroMexico Vacations provides customized vacation travel packages throughout the airline’s service network. The airline also offers connecting service to other international destinations through its SkyTeam global airline alliance with 11 full member carriers and three associate carriers. AeroMexico has been recognized for its award-winning style of personalized in-flight service, one of the world’s best on-time flight records, the highest safety and quality standards ratings, outstanding reliability and baggage handling performance, and exceptional value based on its competitive fares and superior service. Additional information is available at www.aeromexico.com or 1-800-237-6639.

Contact:

for AeroMexico
Nancy Del Regno, 214-206-5629 (c); 214-932-6102 (o)
nancy.delregno@levensonbrinkerpr.com
or
Hank Tatum, 214-932-6078 (o); 214-289-6899 (c)
hank.tatum@levensonbrinkerpr.com

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