MEXICO CITY (Border Report) — The next time you fly to Cabo, Cancun or Puerto Vallarta you might be on a plane owned and operated by Mexico’s defense department.
The lower house of Congress, also known as the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico, just approved a change to the country’s civil aviation rules clearing the way for a new airline that would be operated by the military.
The airline will be called Mexicana de Aviación.
In the past, Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had expressed a desire to add another airline in Mexico.
His supporters from the Morena political party pushed the measure through despite heavy opposition.
At the current time, three carriers, Aeromexico, Volaris and Viva Aerobus are the only Mexican airlines in service.
Opponents like Andrés Pinto Caballeros said the airline will have to be heavily subsidized by the government and will become “a white elephant” since Mexico can’t afford to act on “the president’s whims.”
“We are running the risk that this official carrier will have to be supported by millions and millions of pesos that will be lost without generating any positive impact for our country,” Pinto Caballeros said.
But one Lopez Obrador supporter who voted to create the new airline, Mario Miguel Carrillo Cubillas, said the new carrier will prosper since it will be mandated to watch its finances and it will also depend on private financing.
“This will generate lower fares and more competition,” he said.