The US once again considers Mexican airlines as safe

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) returned on Thursday to Mexico category 1 in aviation safety, a decision celebrated by the Government of the Latin American country, which then announced an imminent increase in airline flights local to the neighboring country.

Mexico was downgraded to category 2 from the highest rating in May 2021 due to lack of compliance with international standards, which was a hard blow for Mexican airlines, as it prevented them from adding new routes to the United States and closing some marketing agreements. .

Last week, the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, indicated that Washington authorities had informed him that the restoration of the status was going to occur this week.

“A few moments ago, staff from the United States Embassy gave me the letter where as of today we are back to category 1.”the Mexican Secretary of Transportation, Jorge Nuño, told a radio station after learning of the measure.

The reduction allowed US airlines to gain market share, while Mexican airlines Volaris and Viva Aerobus reported that they had frozen route expansions, and Aeroméxico reported that dozens of aircraft it had acquired could not fly to the neighboring nation because certifications were also suspended.

“According to information that we already had planned from what the airlines gave us, more or less almost 50 additional routes would be scheduled that could be used now in the winter season, which would begin in November of this year,” Nuño added.

Aeroméxico stated in a statement that the return to the highest rating gives the company “the possibility of strengthening connectivity with one of the most important markets for the country, the United States” and ““make more efficient use of the aircraft that have been incorporated” to his fleet.

Mexico remains the main international destination for US airline passengers. Until July, there were 23.4 million passengers on flights between both nations, well ahead of the 17.4 million with Canada, second in that area.

Source: Reuters