Merida, Yucatan — With another flight connecting the city to Havana, the group operating the airport is building on the Peninsula’s Caribbean connection.
Grupo Aeroportuario de Sureste (ASUR), which manages the Manuel Crescencio Rejón International Airport, presented a TAR airline service connecting the capital cities.
The regional airline TAR (Regional Air Transport) began daily flights on Jan. 21. An Embraer ERJ 145 will carry as many as 50 passengers.
The flight competes with direct flights from Interjet, and flights with layovers by Aeromexico/Copa.
María del Carmen Orellana Alvarado, general director of Habana Tour and Taino Tours Divermex, said the flight will depart from Merida at 6:45 a.m., will stop in Cancun and then depart at 10 a.m. for Havana, arriving at 11:45.
The flight back takes off at 12:15 a.m., stopping in Cancun before arriving in Merida at 2:55 p.m.
“The most important thing between two peoples is their communication, that there are correct channels of direct links and this reinforces the relations that exist between Cuba and Mexico because of the great history that unites us,” said Orellana Alvarado.
ASUR Director Héctor Navarrete Muñoz said the airport is poised to grow its link to the Caribbean, with direct flights to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Curacao and Aruba, as well as countries in Central America.
Those flights won’t just benefit travelers. He explained that because of the geographical position of Yucatan, there are many advantages to attract visitors from that part of the Caribbean.
“We can have direct flights to the Caribbean islands from Yucatan, such as Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Granada and Curacao,” he said. “We can offer Yucatan as the gateway to Mexico.”
The executive stressed that the flight to Cuba is important, especially when considering Yucatan’s high commercial exchange with the island and the significant tourism rate.
