Delta Air Lines has announced two new routes to Mexico, connecting Detroit with Tulum and Los Angeles with Mazatlán. Both routes will begin later this year, tapping into the key winter vacation market.

New service to Tulum

From December 11th, Delta Air Lines will fly from Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) to Tulum International Airport (TQO) once per week. According to AeroRoutes, flights will operate as per the following schedule:

Flights will be operated by the Boeing 737-800, of which Delta Air Lines currently has 77 in its fleet, according to data from ch-aviation. The airline's 737-800s are configured with 160 seats - 16 First Class, 36 Comfort+, and 108 Main Cabin.

Delta Air Lines already flies to Tulum from its largest hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), and will commence flights from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) on December 21st, 2024.

Tulum International Airport opened in December 2023, and was designed to serve as a secondary gateway for tourists to the popular vacation spots of the Riviera Maya and the south of the Yucatán Peninsula. Since then, carriers from across Mexico, Central America, and North America have been busy adding new routes to the facility, including Copa Airlines, Air Canada Rouge, and Viva Aerobus.

On December 12th, 2024, Tulum International Airport will welcome its first transatlantic flight, in the form of Discover Airlines, which will deploy its Airbus A330s direct from Frankfurt (FRA). Operations at the airport are only due to get busier over the coming months. Below is a list of other direct services to Tulum that have been announced but have yet to commence:

• Air Canada Rouge - Quebec City (December 13th, 2024), Ottawa (December 14th, 2024)
• Air Transat - Montreal (December 19th, 2024), Quebec City (December 21st, 2024)
• United Airlines - Denver (December 19th, 2024)
• Volaris - Guadalajara (December 5th, 2024)
• WestJet - Calgary (November 9th, 2024), Toronto (November 9th, 2024)

Further expansion in Mexico

Away from Tulum, Delta Air Lines announced another new route, connecting Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with Mazatlán International Airport (MZT). Launching on December 21st, 2024, flights will operate once per week with the following schedule:

Delta Air Lines will deploy the Airbus A319 on its new service to Mazatlán. The carrier's fleet currently contains 57 A319s, with an average age of 22.5 years old, and each aircraft is capable of carrying up to 132 passengers in a three-class configuration - 12 in First Class, 18 in Comfort+, and 102 in Main Cabin.

The carrier will go head-to-head with both Alaska Airlines and American Airlines on the Los Angeles - Mazatlán route, but will not face any direct competition between Detroit and Tulum.

Aeromexico's 24th US destination

At the same time as Delta Air Lines' expansion in Mexico, Aeromexico has revealed that it plans to fly daily to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) from its hub at Mexico City International Airport (MEX). The Mexican flag carrier will deploy its Boeing 737 MAX 8s on the route, which forms part of the Joint Cooperation Agreement maintained between Aeromexico and Delta Air Lines.

This will bring the total number of flights between Mexico City and New York operated by the two carriers to five. The route will commence on October 27th, 2024, and will make Newark Aeromexico's 24th destination in the US.