The resuscitated Mexicana airline brand launched its inaugural flight from Mexico City to the Caribbean resort city of Tulum on 26 December.
But flight number 1788, which departed the capital city’s Felipe Angeles International airport at 09:55 local time, did not go exactly as planned – the Boeing 737-800 had to divert to the colonial city of Merida due to adverse weather conditions in Tulum.
“The aircraft will refuel and remains in Merida waiting for better conditions to fly to its destination,” the company wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Later in the day the carrier said the aircraft continued its journey to Tulum.
At 1:28 p.m. Tulum time, inaugural flight No. 1788 landed at [the international airporit of] Tulum, after making a stopover at … Merida, due to weather conditions,” Mexicana posted on X. ”Thank you for being part of history.”
Earlier this year the Mexican government had disclosed plans for a new carrier overseen by the country’s defence ministry that would use the Mexicana de Aviacion brand more than a decade after the original operator collapsed. The new operation, which according to plans was set to operate a fleet of 10 Boeing 737s, has been slated to begin operations from the start of December.
The airline had initially outlined a proposed route network of 20 domestic destinations it planned to serve out of Mexico City’s new Felipe Angeles airport. But numerous delays dogged the project, and a route map on the airline’s website on 26 December now shows a network of just 14 destinations, six of which appear to be operated by a partner, Link Conexion Aerea.
The aim of the carrier is to reduce the costs of air travel in the country and to boost connectivity to key cities, particularly cities in the north, “so we can guarantee more connectivity and better prices”, the general director of Mexico’s civil aviation regulator, Miguel Vallin, said in October.
