Deseret News (Salt Lake City) - 2 new nonstops to Mexico

Here’s another way to beat the cold: Delta is launching nonstop flights to Mexico City and Guadalajara.

The flights will leave Salt Lake City three times a week in the morning and return by early evening. Those are more convenient times than flights formerly offered by Aeromexico, which had planes changing here around midnight.

Delta Air Lines Inc.’s service to Mexico City started Friday as passengers boarded a 150-seat Boeing 737. The nonstop service to Guadalajara was to begin today.

A spot check of a Mexico City flight Jan. 9 turned up a fare of $644 on Delta’s Web site. That was for nonstop service in less than four hours.

Delta’s cheapest Mexico City flight on the same day was $383 and requires a stop in Atlanta and nearly 12 hours of travel.

The new nonstop flights aren’t just for business people and tourists.

“This is a great opportunity for our growing base of Hispanic customers traveling between Mexico and Utah,” Delta spokesman Anthony Black said.

The south-of-the-border routes underscore Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman’s push for more trade with Mexico, a $150 million business.

Huntsman brought Mexican President Vicente Fox to Salt Lake City in May and is planning a second trade mission to Mexico next year.

The Mexico City and Guadalajara service adds to other Mexican destinations served by Delta: Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cancun and San Jose del Cabo.

“Not only is this great service, it’s well timed to take advantage of Delta’s local connections,” said Barbara Gann, spokeswoman for the Salt Lake City International Airport.

Over the next 22 days, Delta will roll out 16 new nonstop flights from U.S. cities to 14 destinations across Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

They represent Delta’s largest single month of expansion into Latin America and the Caribbean since it set out a year ago to shrink domestic capacity for the more profitable international flights.

The Atlanta-based company expects to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection next year. Meantime, it faces an $8.5 billion hostile takeover bid by US Airways Group Inc.