2012-12-18 — /travelprnews.com/ — Aeromexico has celebrated the launch of its first flight between Heathrow and Mexico City (MEX), one of the eight largest emerging markets in the world. The Boeing 767 aircraft arrived into Heathrow from MEX as flight AM007 on Saturday before departing on its schedule from the UK at 22:25 GMT.
Aeromexico, a founding member of SkyTeam, will be offering three flights a week operating from Terminal 4, as other 12 members of the Alliance. Aeromexico’s airlines operate over 600 daily flights to 45 cities in Mexico, as well as cities in the United States, Canada, Central and South America, as well as Europe and Asia. Passengers were welcomed with the Mexican traditional Mariachi band and given souvenirs from the Mexican airline.
As the balance of economic growth shifts from the developed world to emerging markets, it’s increasingly important for the UK to be connected by air to markets to remain an attractive place to invest and do business. Yet despite Mexico’s position as Latin America’s second largest economy, Britain currently supplies less than one per cent of its imports. Better flight connections will therefore be vital in helping Britain meet its pledge to double bilateral trade with Mexico to $4.2 billion by 2015.
Colin Matthews, Chief Executive Officer of Heathrow said:
“We are delighted to welcome Aeromexico to Heathrow. The centre of gravity in the world economy is shifting and Britain should be forging new links with economies like Mexico. But with this single deal taking four years to complete, the UK’s lack of hub airport capacity is causing us to fall further behind the rest of Europe.”
Andres Conesa, Aeromexico´s CEO said:
“Our new flight to Heathrow is a great achievement for Aeromexico and represents clear evidence of the development of the Mexican airline industry. We are confident that our operations will have a significant positive effect for both economies and will strength our financial and cultural relationship. We are also glad to announce that the route will operate in 2013 with our first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the newest, best most efficient aircraft ever built”
Notes to editors
About Grupo Aeromexico
Grupo Aeromexico, S.A.B. de C.V. is a holding company whose subsidiaries are engaged in commercial aviation in Mexico and the promotion of passenger loyalty programs. Its fleet includes Boeing 777, 767 and 737 aircraft and the latest Embraer 145, 170 and 190 models. The carrier announced a major expansion plan in 2011 to acquire 20 new and wholly owned aircraft including ten Embraer 190 and ten Boeing 737-8 NG airplanes. Aeromexico will take delivery of nine 787-8 Dreamliners over the next three years. Moreover, in 2012, Aeromexico announced the most significant fleet investment program in Mexican aviation history: the acquisition of 100 new owned aircraft including 90 Boeing 737-800 MAX and 10 more Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner airplanes.
Grupo Aeromexico operates its main hub out of Terminal 2 in the Mexico City International Airport. The Group’s airlines operate over 600 daily flights to different cities in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Central and South America, as well as Europe and Asia.
Aeromexico is a founding member of SkyTeam, the global airline alliance comprised of the following 19 airlines: Aeroflot, Aerolineas Argentinas, Aeromexico, Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Kenya Airways, Korean Air, Middle East Airlines, Saudia, TAROM Romanian Air Transport, Vietnam Airlines and Xiamen Airlines. SkyTeam offers all partner airline passengers a large global network with more destinations and frequencies, and improved connectivity. Passengers can accrue and redeem miles with the different partners’ loyalty programs and enjoy the convenience provided at 525 airport lounges worldwide. SkyTeam offers its 552 million annual passengers more than 15,000 daily flights to 1,000 destinations in 187 countries. www.skyteam.com
Contact information
Name Heathrow Airport media centre
Telephone +44 (0)20 8745 7224
Email heathrowmediacentre@baa.com
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Heathrow welcomes Aeromexico