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Destination Rumors: Asunción, Córdoba and Mérida

 
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Old Jul 23, 2010, 4:06 pm
  #1  
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Destination Rumors: Asunción, Córdoba and Mérida

These rumors have gained enough traction lately that I figured I'd post them. Rumor is that American Airlines will launch service to Asuncion, Cordoba and Merida from Miami in 2011.

Asuncion, Paraguay used to be served via Sao Paulo until 2006, when Paraguay instituted a new airline tax that made flying to Paraguay cost-prohibitive. Not sure if AA is still working to get that tax waived, but a return is highly expected, possibly by next summer. I've heard it will be non-stop from Miami, but it could very well operate via Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro.

Cordoba has been in the cards since 2007 and is finally looking very likely for next year, perhaps summer. It might be served via a third point (likely SCL), non-stop from Miami or with a combination.

Merida is a Mexican resort town on the Yucatan. The small town is also where more than half of Miami's Mexican community comes from. I have not heard what equipment would be used - it is within range for an ATR-72 or ERJ (AeroMexico operates the route with an ERJ-145). I've heard a January start. AA officials where in MID just two weeks ago, no idea how that went.
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Old Jul 23, 2010, 4:17 pm
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Asuncion and Cordoba I have heard for a long time, but MERIDA ? That is the city on the Yucatan peninsula opposite Cancun which never was able to fight for its share of the tourist trade...

Even Mexicans describe it as an anagram...
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Old Jul 23, 2010, 4:22 pm
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Originally Posted by MAH4546
These rumors have gained enough traction lately that I figured I'd post them. Rumor is that American Airlines will launch service to Asuncion, Cordoba and Merida from Miami in 2011.

Asuncion, Paraguay used to be served via Sao Paulo until 2006, when Paraguay instituted a new airline tax that made flying to Paraguay cost-prohibitive. Not sure if AA is still working to get that tax waived, but a return is highly expected, possibly by next summer. I've heard it will be non-stop from Miami, but it could very well operate via Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro.

Cordoba has been in the cards since 2007 and is finally looking very likely for next year, perhaps summer. It might be served via a third point (likely SCL), non-stop from Miami or with a combination.

Merida is a Mexican resort town on the Yucatan. The small town is also where more than half of Miami's Mexican community comes from. I have not heard what equipment would be used - it is within range for an ATR-72 or ERJ (AeroMexico operates the route with an ERJ-145). I've heard a January start. AA officials where in MID just two weeks ago, no idea how that went.
That's awesome about MID and glad AA is opening up to smaller markets in Mexico, particularly from Miami. I took AM two summers ago when it was operating 5-6x weekly with 73G/738 equipment but it appears they have since cut capacity on the route. CO serves IAH-MID with mainline 738. MID isn't exactly a tourist destination, so I wonder if the market can support more service to the US in addition to its many flights to MEX.

Btw,have you heard anything about CTG (Cartagena), Colombia? Spirit served it from FLL, not sure if they still do. AA does quite well on the Bogota flights so I imagine CTG would be no different. Latin America, Caribbean, and Mexico really seem to be strong markets for AA and its great to see them expand there.
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Old Jul 23, 2010, 4:53 pm
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Originally Posted by Cofyknsult
Asuncion and Cordoba I have heard for a long time, but MERIDA ? That is the city on the Yucatan peninsula opposite Cancun which never was able to fight for its share of the tourist trade...

Even Mexicans describe it as an anagram...
Again, though, Miami's Mexican community comes largely from Merida. There is a lot of local connections. It doesn't have to do with the tourist traffic.


Originally Posted by AAerSTL
Btw,have you heard anything about CTG (Cartagena), Colombia? Spirit served it from FLL, not sure if they still do. AA does quite well on the Bogota flights so I imagine CTG would be no different. Latin America, Caribbean, and Mexico really seem to be strong markets for AA and its great to see them expand there.
Spirit does still fly to CTG. Spirit also flies to Armenia, Colombia and starts Barranquilla next week. I'm a little surprised AA has not been a little more aggressive in expanding there, but there is a lot of capacity between American, Avianca, Aires, LAN and Spirit, plus AeroRepublica is coming in the winter.
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Old Jul 23, 2010, 5:10 pm
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Originally Posted by Cofyknsult
MERIDA ?

Even Mexicans describe it as an anagram...


An anagram???

ARM-DIE

RIDE-MA

AIR-MED

AM-DIRE
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Old Jul 23, 2010, 5:17 pm
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Try again... I said MEXICANS...
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Old Jul 23, 2010, 5:19 pm
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What about Monterrey (MTY). It would be great to fly there direct MIA-MTY and there is plenty of business traffic there they could capture.
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Old Jul 23, 2010, 5:20 pm
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Originally Posted by Cofyknsult
Try again... I said MEXICANS...

MIER-**
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Old Jul 23, 2010, 5:22 pm
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Originally Posted by redrock
What about Monterrey (MTY). It would be great to fly there direct MIA-MTY and there is plenty of business traffic there they could capture.
I agree it makes more sense, and yes.
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Old Jul 23, 2010, 5:45 pm
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Originally Posted by Cofyknsult
Even Mexicans describe it as an anagram...
Finally, my 10 years of Spanish are paying off
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Old Jul 23, 2010, 6:53 pm
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re cordoba....a non stop or 1 stop mia-cor would be a great help....now its dfw-scl-cor, or dfw-eze-open-aep-cor....i don't think that an aa route mia-scl-cor would make sense.....
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Old Jul 23, 2010, 7:47 pm
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Mérida is the capital of México's largest state, Yucatán, a city that predates the conquest, and a business center with a population of a bit over 2.4 million and 16 universities - not much for US tourism, though the city is picturesque, friendly with significant cultural attractions, it does have significant domestic tourism, and Aeropuerto Internacional Manuel Crescencio Rejón serves over a million passengers annually; existing international destinations include IAH, MIA and HAV. (MTY is already served by several airlines and US airports, and AA serves it from DFW, likely a better hub than MIA for AA to serve it.)

I will have to say Yucatecos in general don't much care about Chilangos from Mexico City or others calling them squareheads or saying the city's name is an anagram for fecal matter. That probably relates to the reason it is known as the "White City" - the name probably has to do with the oppression by the wealthy white colonial residents of the native Mayan Yucatecans, which led to the Caste Wars in 1848, and not much to do with the oft-mentioned whitewashed walls.

The idea of AA extending flights to MID has been mooted about recently, and AA staff have been there preparing the ground, so to speak. Perhaps you have information that might add to AA management's perceptions of Mérida as a city to serve, or to FT from your working knowledge of the city?

Originally Posted by Cofyknsult
Try again... I said MEXICANS...

Last edited by JDiver; Sep 5, 2011 at 10:54 pm
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Old Jul 23, 2010, 9:33 pm
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Very cool. I have been wanting to check out Merida, seems like a very interesting colonial town
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Old Jul 24, 2010, 2:25 am
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Originally Posted by Cofyknsult
I agree it makes more sense, and yes.
AeroMexico flies Miami-Monterrey daily.

If AA had a good 85-110 seat plane, it would be perfect, but the 738 is too big.
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Old Jul 24, 2010, 2:51 am
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Originally Posted by clacko
re cordoba....a non stop or 1 stop mia-cor would be a great help....now its dfw-scl-cor, or dfw-eze-open-aep-cor....i don't think that an aa route mia-scl-cor would make sense.....
Don't forget MIA-LIM-COR on LAN. I'm not sure how the connection is in LIM but it might be the fastest way to get to COR from MIA
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