Summary
- Mexican and Israeli officials discussed the possibility of direct flights from Mexico City and Cancun to Tel Aviv, which would benefit the large Jewish community in Mexico.
- There are currently no direct flights between Mexico and Israel, despite the significant Jewish and Christian populations in Mexico that may be interested in traveling to Israel.
- The feasibility of a Mexico City-Tel Aviv route depends on altitude issues, and a stopover may be necessary. Only Aeromexico and El Al have the fleet capacity to operate such flights.
The Mexican and Israeli governments met to discuss the possibility of establishing direct flights from Mexico City and Cancun to Tel Aviv. These new routes would be opened to serve the large Jewish community living in Mexico, which would definitely welcome the opening of these direct services, currently unavailable.
Are new flights coming shortly?
This week, Mexico’s Secretary of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transport (SICT), Jorge Nuño Lara, met with the Minister of Transport, National Infrastructure, and Road Safety of Israel, Miriam Regev, to discuss transportation topics and promote collaboration between both countries.
Photo: Dewa Ketut Partana/Shutterstock.
During the meeting, Miriam Regev emphasized the interest in establishing direct flights from Mexico City and Cancun to Tel Aviv. No direct flights exist between both countries despite the sizeable Jewish population residing across Mexico. According to some reports, about 70,000 Jewish people are living in Mexico. Additionally, due to Jerusalem’s ties to Christianity, there’s an enormous Christian and Catholic population in Mexico that could be interested in direct flights to Israel.
Would the route be feasible?
Only Aeromexico and El Al would have the fleet to serve direct flights between both countries. Nonetheless, a non-stop flight to Mexico City would unlikely be feasible due to altitude issues. If a Mexico City-Tel Aviv route were to take place, the airline operating it would have to do a stopover. They could do what Emirates does and apply a fifth freedom service. Emirates flies the route Dubai-Barcelona-Mexico City. Or they could do what Turkish Airlines does. Turkish Airlines flies the route Istanbul-Mexico City-Cancun-Istanbul. The stopover in Cancun serves exclusively for refueling.
Any flight between Mexico City and Tel Aviv would have to be served from the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (NLU). The distance between NLU and the Ben Gurion Airport is 7,749 miles (12,470 kilometers).
Photo: Benthemouse/Shutterstock.
During the meeting between Jiménez Pons and Miriam Regev, the delegation from the Israeli Department of Transport received a tour of the facilities of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport.
No further announcement was made, and neither carrier has expressed an interest in flying between Mexico and Israel. This is not the first time the Mexican government has promoted direct routes to currently unserved countries. Last year, the government met with the Moroccan ambassador, and both parties agreed to begin working on a Royal Air Maroc Casablanca-Mexico City direct flight. This flight has not come to fruition, nor any new information has come to light.
Aeromexico and El Al fleets
These two carriers have narrowbody and widebody jets. The latter would help either company to operate flights between Mexico and Israel if they were interested in making such a route.
El Al Israel Airlines has a fleet of 48 aircraft, according to data from ch-aviation. For long-haul services, the company has four Boeing 777-200ERs, four Boeing 787 Dreamliner 8s, and 12 Dreamliner 9s.
Aeromexico has a fleet of 153 aircraft. It has 20 widebodies, including eight Boeing 787 Dreamliner 8s and 12 Dreamliner 9s.
Would you like to see a direct flight between Israel and Mexico? Which airline would you like to see this route covered? Let us know in the comments below.