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Viva launches new flights connecting US cities to AIFA airport

MND Staff
By MND Staff
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Viva Aerobus
Viva's new U.S.-to-AIFA routes will take flight in November and December ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. (Oliver Holzbauer/Flickr)

Low-cost airline Viva — formerly known as Viva Aerobús — announced two new international routes from Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AU) and New York (JFK), starting this winter.

The route to Austin will begin on Nov. 20, and will operate three times a week: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

A China Airlines plane leaves AIFA
The new flights will connect AIFA airport in México state to New York City and Austin, Texas. (Mario Jasso/Cuartoscuro)

Meanwhile, service to JFK will be seasonal and strategic. It will run from Dec. 12 through Jan. 11, with three weekly flights on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The route will subsequently return in June 2026, coinciding with the start of the FIFA World Cup. Both Mexico City and New York will be host cities for the competition.

“At Viva, we are preparing to connect Mexicans with various World Cup host cities and to welcome the wave of international tourists who will surely visit our country during this great event,” Viva CEO Juan Carlos Zuazua said.

He added that the carrier would close 2025 with 42 routes to and from AIFA, representing a 44% increase compared to last year.

The new routes join seven different routes the carrier announced in April between the AIFA and the U.S., as part of a strategy to strengthen international connectivity to AIFA. The destinations of those routes include Los Angeles, Dallas, Denver, Chicago, Houston, Miami and Orlando.

“We continue to boost this airport’s international connectivity, tourism, and opportunities for thousands of Mexicans with these new routes,” the General Manager of AIFA Isidoro Pastor Román said. “Thanks to the efforts of airlines like Viva, our staff, our location, and our first-class infrastructure, we are consolidating AIFA as the best option for flying in the Metropolitan Area of ​​the Valley of Mexico,” he said.

According to Pastor, AIFA is projected to transport 7.3 million passengers in 2025, surpassing the previous record of 6.3 million set last year. However, it is still operating below its full capacity.

When the airport opened, officials expected to serve 20 million passengers per year. Yet in the more than three years from its opening in March 2022 to July 2025, the airport has served a total of just 13.5 million passengers.

Though the number of passengers remains low compared to the initial estimates, demand continues to increase each year.

With reports from A21, Puente Libre and Polls.mx

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