From Texas Public Radio:
On a recent Monday night at the Interjet Airlines ticketing desk in Terminal B, passengers were booking ahead for some of the few remaining non-stops to Mexico City.
In March, Southwest stopped flying from San Antonio to the Mexican capital. Aeromexico cut back on its flights.
Nusha Bladinieres of New Braunfels was hustling to catch her two-hour, non-stop to Mexico City. Missing it would mean having to make connections through Houston or Dallas and spending 5 to 10 hours traveling.
“Actually, I was supposed to fly yesterday, but I couldn’t get a flight last minute so I had to fly today,” said a frustrated Bladinieres.
She flies several times a month to Mexico City to see family members and for her yogurt store business. She says the loss of the Southwest flights makes quick trips more difficult.
“I think for business it is bad,” she said, saying the loss of convenient flights may also hurt retail sales in the San Antonio area.
“There are a lot of Mexicans who come here, shopping and spending money and going to restaurants. My brother, (who lives in Mexico City), goes to Houston to go shopping because it’s less expensive to fly there even though we have San Marcos and all the wonderful places here,” she says.
Richard Perez, president and CEO of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, says he knows the loss of direct flights to Mexico City from San Antonio has caused some “angst” among business travelers.
