Flights - Playa Del Carmen

There are more than fifty airports in Mexico with regular passenger flights run by local airlines, plus several smaller airports with feeder services. The two big companies, both formerly state-owned and with international as well as domestic flights, are Aeroméxico and Mexicana, which between them connect most places to Mexico City, usually several times a day. Their monopoly is being challenged by a handful of smaller airlines that are growing rapidly and offering greater numbers of destinations all the time. Of these, Aviacsa serves the Yucatán, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guadalajara, Acapulco, Cancún, Tijuana and Monterrey. Aerolineas Internacionales and Aero California also cover most major destinations while Aeromar operates mainly in the north. The stiff competition between these airlines serves to keep prices steady and relatively low. Information about them is not usually available in cities not served by them, nor from Aeroméxico and Mexicana offices, though a good travel agent should be able to help track down details.

Internal airfares reflect the popularity of the route: the more popular the trip, the lower the price. Thus the flight from Tijuana to Mexico City costs little more than the first-class bus, while the much shorter, but less popular flight from Tijuana to La Paz costs the same. Obviously, fares like the first are a real bargain, but even on more expensive routes they can be well worth it for the time they save. While the smaller airlines might be cheaper, the price of a ticket on a particular flight doesn't normally vary from agent to agent. There are few discounts, and it's usually twice as much for a round-trip as a one-way ticket.

Mexicana and Aeroméxico offer multi-flight airpasses , available only outside Mexico, valid for 2 to 45 days, and with different prices for 2- to 5-flight passes, depending on which region of the country is covered. They save you time spent buying air tickets in Mexico, but they're not a great bargain otherwise. In the US contact the airlines direct; in the UK, call a specialist agent or Mexicana.