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This week, Air Canada and TUI both announced new flight routes set to connect Canada and the United Kingdom with 2 locations across the Mexican-Caribbean. Air Canada is set to connect Toronto with Cozumel this fall, with TUI offering flights between the UK and other European cities to Cancun. This comes after the news that 50 thousand flights are set to connect global destinations with Cancun and elsewhere in the Mexican-Caribbean from July to December this year.
The German leisure group TUI initially announced they would schedule up to 12 weekly flights from the United Kingdom to Cancun from November 2022 onwards. However, as the largest tour operator in the world, the company also stated they would organise 8 weekly flights from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden to Cancun (as well as potential flight connections from Belgium and Holland).
Most flights from cities in Europe to Cancun are connecting, which means travellers have to factor in layovers, creating additional costs. Whilst there are options to fly direct to Cancun, these flights are often far more expensive than a connecting flight. TUI’s new flights from the United Kingdom to Cancun are expected to give passengers a direct flight for a fair price.
Air Canada also stated they would offer flights from Toronto to Cozumel on a weekly basis, beginning on October 30th. As the demand for flights increases throughout the winter period, there are talks of beginning with two flights per week in December, and three flights a week in January.
Earlier this year, Air Canada announced their partnership with Mexican air company Aeromar, which aims to offer customers flying between Mexico and Canada seamless journeys. This allows for an increased number of flights from the Canadian destinations of Toronto and Montreal to Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta as well as Cancun. This new partnership allows passengers to book flights on either airline on a single-ticket itinerary, with efficient check-in, boarding and baggage transfers throughout the duration of each journey.
Flying direct from Toronto to Cozumel is an excellent option for travellers looking to cut their journey time and maximise their vacation. Without directly flying to Cozumel, Air Canada passengers would need to fly to Cancun, drive to Playa Del Carmen and take the ferry to Cozumel, located 8.5 miles away from the mainland.
Dario Flota Ocampo, the director of Quintana Roo’s Tourism Promotion Council, praised the new flight connections as a way of bolstering tourism in the region since the Covid-19 pandemic started:
“The Mexican Caribbean continues to spearhead the recovery of international tourism…Only in June of this year, the Cancun International Airport received 12% more passengers than in the same month of 2019, before the pandemic’.
These flight connections are incredibly important for travellers, especially if the demand for tourism in fall onwards is as strong as now: With the state of Quintana Roo recording a whopping 400,000 daily visitors last week, an increase in flight routes connecting the region with North America and Europe is greatly needed.
One reason that the Mexican Caribbean has experienced a moderate increase in travellers this year is due to so-called ‘Revenge Travel’. After borders closed and travel ground to a halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the loosening of restrictions has led to thousands of North American and European tourists flocking to the Mexican-Caribbean for a long-overdue dose of sun, sand and surf.
With the current influx of travellers in the Mexican-Caribbean this summer, there is no doubt that Air Canada and TUI’s new fall flights will contribute to the region seeing even more tourists as the winter season approaches.
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