Describing the Guadalajara International Airport (GDL) as “the best in Latin America,” Jalisco Governor Pablo Lemus this week announced that the budget airline Volaris will add five direct routes to key cities in the United States next month.

Additionally, a new Guadalajara-Paris route is scheduled to begin operations on April 13, 2027, expanding the airport’s long-haul connectivity with the French capital, which will become the second European destination with direct service from GDL (Aeroméxico has been operating flights to Madrid since December 2021).

Lemus said his administration is “working hard to make GDL the best connected” airport in Latin America, and Volaris’ executive vice president Holger Blankenstein seemed to second the motion as he confirmed that his airline will launch new flights between the Jalisco state capital and Atlanta, Washington Dulles, Boston, Raleigh-Durham and Nashville, Tennessee.

The Atlanta and Washington connections will begin operations on Oct. 2, while the latter three are scheduled to get underway on Oct. 15, increasing the number of destinations from GDL to 71 and boosting total operations to more than 100 flights per day.

The flights to Washington Dulles, Nashville and Raleigh-Durham will have three weekly frequencies; routes to Atlanta and Boston will have four weekly frequencies.

While Blankenstein highlighted the expanded travel options for Volaris customers and new opportunities to connect with key U.S. cities through direct flights and affordable fares, Guadalajara officials emphasized strengthened ties with the U.S. and new possibilities for commercial, cultural and tourism exchange.

Jalisco Tourism Minister Michelle Fridman Hirsch described the new routes as “an important step forward [for Jalisco], because it brings our destinations closer to key points and expands the options for direct connection to one of our main international markets.”

As for the Paris flight, the new connection will have three weekly frequencies, offering up to 800 seats per week in each direction on Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes.

“The long-awaited direct connection with Paris confirms our region’s potential to sustain long-haul flights and reflects Aeroméxico’s confidence in an airport that continues to expand its infrastructure and operational capacity to meet growing demand,” GDL administrator Cryshtian Amador Lizardi said.

The Guadalajara airport recently expanded its operational capacity with the opening of a second runway as part of a 22 billion-peso (US $1.3 billion) Master Development Plan.

GDL served 18.7 million passengers last year and handled 12.9 million passengers through August this year, 4.8% more than during the same period in 2025.

With reports from Informador and El Economista