From executives to farmworkers, Aeromexico seeks passengers for its RDU flights
When Jose Angel Zapata talks about the people Aeromexico expects to serve from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, he mentions the usual airline customers: business travelers, students, tourists and people visiting family and friends.
But there’s another group that may be unique to Mexico’s flag carrier in a state like North Carolina: farmworkers who will find flying home attractive after a season harvesting cucumbers, sweet potatoes and tobacco.
Zapata is Aeromexico’s vice president for sales. He was in the Triangle this week drumming up business for the airline’s daily flights between RDU and Mexico City, which begin July 1. He met with state tourism officials, members of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce and others who might be interested in a nonstop flight to Mexico’s capital and the airline’s hub at Benito Juárez International Airport.
And that included representatives of the N.C. Growers Association, whose members hire some 25,000 workers from Mexico through the H-2A agricultural visa program. They usually come to North Carolina by land, Zapata said, but many are interested in flying home.
“We expect to get some of that traffic,” he said. “We offer a much safer choice for them to travel.”
Zapata appeared Wednesday at a press conference at the Mexican consulate in Raleigh attended primarily by the Triangle’s Spanish-language media. The consulate has helped make connections in the region, he said, and is a good way to reach the 600,000 Mexican nationals living in the state.
“We don’t want to come with massive marketing,” Zapata said in an interview. “We just want to make sure our Mexican customers who come to the consulate are aware of our service.”
Being able to reach Mexico City in four hours, rather a day traveling through another airport, is a real advantage, said Miguel Antonio Cuesta Zarco, the deputy consul general at the consulate.
“More Mexicans will have the opportunity to visit North Carolina, and more North Carolinians will have the opportunity to visit Mexico with a flight of four hours,” Cuesta Zarco said. “Plus the connectivity they will have in Mexico City to other parts of Mexico.”
Zapata said demand for the new flight has been “very good” so far. Aeromexico expects about half of its RDU sales will come from the Triangle and about half from Mexicans who want to visit North Carolina, whether on business, to attend school or for pleasure. Zapata said there’s growing interest among Mexicans to visit places in the U.S. other than Los Angeles, New York or Disney World.
“We plan to create an awareness in Mexico of what North Carolina has to offer in terms of tourism,” he said. “A lot of outdoors and beaches. Lot of good golfing. Mexicans love golf.”
RDU flight part of a joint venture with Delta
RDU is one of four East Coast cities that Aeromexico will begin serving this year, along with Boston, Washington and Tampa, through a partnership with Delta Air Lines. Customers will be able to book flights through either carrier and get credit with their existing loyalty program.
Joint ventures like the one with Aeromexico allow Delta to expand its reach, said Ivan Vukov, Delta’s director of sales in the U.S. who accompanied Zapata to Raleigh. Delta’s customers get access to Aeromexico’s network, with connections to 45 cities in Mexico from its hub, while both airlines share strategies and best practices, Vukov said.
Aeromexico plans to fly year around, starting with Embraer E-190 jets with 99 seats. Zapata said if demand is good, the airline could switch to a larger Boeing 737.
Zapata said the airline has been considering RDU for a long time and that its partnership with Delta and the expansion of its fleet of aircraft made it possible. In addition to the large Mexican-American community in North Carolina, the Triangle’s tech companies and universities should generate business. The recent trend of American companies “near-shoring” factories from Asia to Mexico will also spur business travel, he said.
“We’ve seen a lot of U.S. companies relocating or expanding operations in Mexico,” he said.
Aeromexico’s arrival at RDU is part of a significant expansion of international flights from the Triangle, starting with Icelandair’s service to Reykjavik in spring 2022.
Mexico City is now one of 10 international destinations with nonstop flights from RDU and the second in Mexico, after Cancun. Aeromexico is one of seven airlines based outside the U.S. to do business at RDU, after Bahamasair, Air Canada, Air France, Copa, Icelandair and Lufthansa.
