Donald Trump’s has imposed new restrictions on flights from Mexico, a move that serves as a warning to Ireland and may affect Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico’s partnership established in 2016.
Trump has said that Mexico’s restrictions on number of flights to Mexico airport breaches the bilateral aviation agreement between the countries and US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said Mexico’s actions to force airlines to move out of the main Benito Juarez International Airport to the newer Felipe Angeles International Airport more than 50 km away violated a trade agreement between the two countries and gave domestic airlines an unfair advantage.
The termination of the partnership could jeopardise numerous routes and pose a threat to economic benefits worth $800m. Approximately 40m Americans travelled to Mexico last year, making it by far the most important source market for Mexico tourism.
All Mexican passenger, cargo and charter airlines will now be required to submit their schedules to the Transportation Department and seek government approval of their flights until Duffy is satisfied with the way Mexico is treating U.S. airlines.
A similar measure was taken against KLM last year over restrictions on flights in Amsterdam Schiphol. Last week Airlines for America brought their argument that the Dublin Airport passenger cap is anti-competitive to the White House and have asked the President to intervene.
While no explicit threat has been made regarding the passenger cap at Dublin airport the bureaucratic burden of seeking approval for individual flights seems to be the default response by the White House to any perceived restrictions on the access of US carriers to foreign airports
Delta warns that the change could result in a drastic decline in tourism from both nations, affecting local economies.
Sean Duffy shared, “Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg deliberately allowed Mexico to break our bilateral aviation agreement.”
Delta shared, “The U.S. Department of Transportation’s tentative proposal to terminate its approval of the strategic and pro-competitive partnership between Delta and Aeromexico would cause significant harm to consumers travelling between the U.S. and Mexico.”
Aeromexico’s press office shared it was reviewing the order and intended to present a joint response with Delta in the coming days.
