SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Mexicana de Aviacion was a prominent airline in Mexico until it went bankrupt in 2010.
Although its planes stopped flying 13 years ago, its name brand soared again Thursday as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s announced that his Administration is paying 815 million pesos for the rights to the Mexicana brand.
That’s almost $48 million.
López Obrador is relaunching the airline that will be operated by Mexico’s Department of Defense.
“It’s a historic purchase,” he said during his daily briefing with the media.
Mexico’s Defense Minister, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, said more than 4 billion pesos ($234 million) would be invested into this “military-operated airline.”
The money will pay for the rental and maintenance of Boeing aircraft and for the cost of fuel.
Sandoval said the airline will begin service in December and will fly to 20 destinations in Mexico, operating as a non-profit while offering tickets 18 to 20 percent below current market rates.
The new Mexicana will be based at Mexico City’s new Felipe Angeles International Airport, another of the president’s projects, which has been criticized for opening despite not having the proper terminals, amenities or connecting roads to serve the airport.
The airline will fly to the following destinations:
- Cancún/Tulum Airport
- Monterrey
- Guadalajara
- Tijuana
- Campeche
- Chetumal
- Mérida
- Puerto Vallarta
- Ixtapa- Zihuatanejo
- Cozumel
- Los Cabos
- Hermosillo
- Ciudad Juárez
- Villahermosa
- Huatulco
- Oaxaca
- Acapulco
- Mazatlán
- La Paz
- León
Initially, the airline will be served by 10 Boeing 737-800 jets.