Mexico City Gets Three New US Routes After a Year-Long Freeze

Aeromexico has announced three new daily nonstop routes from Mexico City to the United States, all set to begin in January 2027. Flights to Orange County’s John Wayne Airport start around January 11, Fort Lauderdale follows on January 14, and Portland, Oregon, begins on January 21, with the first southbound departure the next morning. The routes were unveiled together with Delta under the two airlines’ joint cooperation agreement, and Aeromexico says it will be the only carrier flying each of the three pairs nonstop.

The timing is no accident. Roughly ten days before the announcement, the US Department of Transportation lifted a year-long prohibition on new Mexico City routes by Mexican airlines. Those restrictions, introduced in 2025, were tied to disputes over airport access, landing slots and the relocation of cargo operations, and they had frozen expansion plans at Aeromexico, Volaris and Viva Aerobus alike. Aeromexico’s three new routes are among the first visible signs that the freeze has genuinely ended.

The flights will use Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft configured with 166 seats: 16 in Premier Class, 18 in the extra-legroom AM Plus cabin and 132 in Economy. Schedules published by Airways Magazine show morning departures from Mexico City on all three routes, while the Portland service flies by day. That is a change from the airline’s earlier Portland flights, which launched in December 2017 and operated southbound overnight. Together the three routes add 3,486 seats per direction in a full week.

For travelers, the practical payoff is more choice in markets that previously required a connection or a competitor’s schedule. Aeromexico and Delta say their joint network from Mexico City now reaches 27 US destinations. Start dates for the Orange County route differ slightly between reports, with one citing January 10 and another January 11, so check the airline’s booking page before building an itinerary around opening day. Reports also suggest more 2027 US announcements could follow.

Sources: Airways Magazine, The Bulkhead Seat