Aeromexico scraps Albuquerque-Chihuahua flights (subsidized, live, prices)

[Pink Jazz]

KOB.com - Aeromexico cancels remaining Sunport ‘International’ flight (http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S1336626.shtml?cat=517 - broken link)

Well, I knew this was coming soon. Load factors on these flights were only about 20%. Some of these empty seats were subsidized, but apparently, that wasn't enough to keep Aeromexico in Albuquerque.

I mean, who really cares about Chihuahua? I personally think Mexico City or Cancun would have been wiser choices. As far as I know, the flight mostly existed for those who are visiting family and relatives there. There is virtually no tourist traffic in Chihuahua.

[Zoidberg]

Puerto Vallarta (a la Frontier) seemed like an outstanding international flight. I might have actually ended up taking that one, because going anywhere else tropical would have taken 2+ more hours each way.

Mexico City: Not until that new airport opens up.

Cancun: Ah, that would've been nice too. Still a little busy tho.

[karmathecat]

Frankly, I doubt ABQ has the traffic to support any international route. There simply are not enough people who travel internationally here...most people, it seems, don't even have passports and I have never met so many adults in my life who have never been on an airplane.

PHX, DEN, DFW are all about an hour away and all serve international destinations.

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by karmathecat

Frankly, I doubt ABQ has the traffic to support any international route. There simply are not enough people who travel internationally here...most people, it seems, don't even have passports and I have never met so many adults in my life who have never been on an airplane.

PHX, DEN, DFW are all about an hour away and all serve international destinations.

Well, Frontier's former Albuquerque-Puerto Vallarta flight had an 80% average load factor, however, high fuel prices and the airline's financial condition is what killed the route.

[karmathecat]

Originally Posted by Andros 1337

Well, Frontier's former Albuquerque-Puerto Vallarta flight had an 80% average load factor, however, high fuel prices and the airline's financial condition is what killed the route.

They flew that route for less than a month, from Dec 15 of 2007 to Jan 7, 2008, peak travel times to Mexican resort destinations. Certainly not long enough to guage whether or not operating during other months would have similar load factors.

[Poncho_NM]

Originally Posted by Andros 1337

I mean, who really cares about Chihuahua?

Perhaps the 3.2 million inhabitants of the state?

[karmathecat]

Chihuahua could be a major tourist destination. Both the region and its capital city have a fascinating history ( Pancho Villa, the Mennonite community and their cheese, the Tarahumara culture ), and it could be the gateway to many more tours to the Copper Canyon. Mexico just has not done enough to get the word out about this state.

[ABQSunseeker]

There may not be enough passengers here to sustain any Mexican destination's success. Of course, this past year was the worst year to start any kind of such venture to Mexico. But I did wonder why Chihuahua was chosen (proximity, larger subsidies?) instead of larger, potentially more lucrative destinations like Monterrey, Mexico City, or Guadalajara. The Puerto Vallarta and Cancun flights would only be for an abbreviated winter season.

[rwjoyak]

See Mimbres-Paquime Connection : Meetings and New Mexico and Old Mexico (http://www.newmexico.org/explore/two_nation/twonationvacation.php - broken link). Helps explain the background for choosing Chihuahua as the destination. Part of a larger effort by governments on both sides of the border to promote tourism between New Mexico and the Mexican state of Chihuahua. But the current economics plus the bad stories (drug cartels, murders, etc.) out of Mexico are hard to overcome. Although I think Chihuahua has relatively few of these problems, most Americans just lump all of Mexico into the same pot.

[Zoidberg]

Originally Posted by Poncho_NM

Perhaps the 3.2 million inhabitants of the state?

Most of those inhabitants live very close to the border, and would not use the Chihuahua city airport.

Looking at <1 million within range of that airport (it ranks #17 for Mexico!), on par with Albuquerque. Apparently not enough to justify the route, particularly with little or no time advantage to most Mexican destinations vs. DFW or IAH connections. Puerto Vallarta has over 3X the passenger traffic of either Juarez or Chihuahua City.

Even still, I dare say making the connection to Juarez's airport would've been smarter than Chihuahua city's; better air service from there, better aligned business interests, and more direct to other destinations.

Which brings up the following point:

As far as airports go, ours could grow.
Why isn't Albuquerque on its way to becoming an airport hub?