Mexico’s second largest airline has announced new flights connecting two expat friendly cities, both renowned for their beauty and cultural offerings — San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, and Mérida, Yucatán.

The new Volaris route from Mérida to Bajío Airport in Silao, the nearest airport to San Miguel de Allende at 90 minutes from the city, offers expats in Yucatán access to a cooler summer climate to unwind in a region famed for its wine production and art scene. It also gives expats in San Miguel de Allende an easy journey to the Maya region with some of the county’s best beaches, inspiring ruins and natural sights.

One key advantage of the new route is that travelers can avoid having to connect through Mexico City. “As of the moment, you can only get there [San Miguel de Allende] via CDMX,” San Miguel de Allende resident Lucinda Young told Yucatán Magazine.

From Mexico City, Young added, there are flights to Bajío airport or to Querétaro airport, where travelers can take a shuttle to San Miguel de Allende.

Young thinks the easy-going lifestyle in San Miguel de Allende will attract Mérida residents. “For the energetic, motivated and fit it’s a great walking city, with a plethora of European-style cafes and wine bars for refreshment stops … But unlike Mérida it’s also very easy to pick up a taxi anywhere and there’s a fixed in-city fare of 60 pesos,” she said.

Young added that the change of scenery and altitude could be a welcome change for people in Yucatán, as well as the food. “I think the combination of desert plateaus, rivers, and dramatic ravines might be pretty attractive to Yucatán folks who live at sea level with little change in topography … The city sits at the heart of one of Mexico’s most intensive agricultural regions and is also just a three-hour drive to the Pacific coast, so the quality of ingredients is stellar,” she said.

Volaris says the new route will begin operating before the end of the year. The frequency of flights and the fares have not yet been announced.

Meanwhile, Mérida airport registered an all-time record number of passengers for a single month in March, receiving 233,504 travelers.

Traffic is likely to increase. Several domestic airlines, including Viva Aerobus and Magnicharters, have announced they will be increasing their daily flights to Mexico City. There will also be new direct flights to Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, and Toluca, México state.

There is plenty of room for growth at Yucatán’s main airport: authorities say the existing facilities are still only operating at about 25% capacity.

With reports from Yucatán Magazine and Novedades Yucatán