Three airlines open new routes from Philadelphia, Denver and Houston

The Quintana Roo tourism sector will get a much-needed boost amid the coronavirus pandemic with new international flights to Cozumel and Cancún.

The Quintana Roo Tourism Promotion Council (CPTQ) announced three new routes to Cozumel, an island off the coast of Playa del Carmen, and several new flights to Cancún, the state’s premier tourist destination.

American Airlines will soon fly once per week between Philadelphia and Cozumel while Frontier Airlines will commence Saturday flights between Denver and the small Caribbean island tomorrow. Southwest Airlines will begin daily flights between Houston and Cozumel on March 11.

The CPTQ said that Portuguese flag carrier TAP will begin flying three times per week between Lisbon and Cancún on March 27 while Spanish charter airline Evelop will recommence weekly flights from Madrid to the resort city on March 8. The frequency of the the Evelop flights is expected to increase to three per week over the summer.

The Portuguese airline Orbest will also resume weekly services between Lisbon and Cancún at the end of March.

Frontier Airlines began operations Thursday on a new route that will operate four times per week between Orlando and Cancún while the same carrier will commence five times per week services from Miami on March 7. Frontier will also start a weekly service from Cincinnati to Cancún on March 13 while Southwest will begin operations on a daily route between Phoenix and Cancún on March 11.

CPTQ director Darío Flota Ocampo noted that Air France, Switzerland’s Edelweiss Air, British Airways and Germany’s Lufthansa are currently still flying to Quintana Roo despite the pandemic. He also said that Chetumal remains well connected because there are regular flights from the Quintana Roo capital to Mexico City and Guadalajara.

Although the number of international tourists who came to Mexico last year slumped 46% to 24.3 million, the number of United States visitors to Quintana Roo increased in 2020. State authorities blamed a recent increase in coronavirus cases on an influx of domestic and international tourists in December.

Quintana Roo is currently orange light high risk on both the federal and state stoplight maps. Hotels, restaurants, archaeological sites and theme parks are currently operating at 50% capacity but bars and nightclubs are closed.

Source: El Economista (sp)