Hit by pandemic, small Mexican airline Aeromar shuts down

The small Mexican airline Aeromar has announced it is closing down due to financial problems

Mexico Airline (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The small Mexican airline Aeromar announced Wednesday it is closing down due to financial problems after failing to recover from a pandemic downturn.

The regional carrier operated 21 routes in Mexico and flew to McAllen and Laredo in Texas and Havana, Cuba. It specialized in flying routes between Mexico City and beach resorts.

Aeromar said in a statement that it had not been able to recover from financial difficulties stemming from the global downturn in travel caused by the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020.

The airline did not say what options would be available to travelers who already purchased tickets. It was also unclear what would happen to the company's nearly 700 employees.

The airline was founded in 1987 with a fleet of about ten ATR turboprop airplanes. It was the second Mexican carrier to go broke as a result of pandemic. In December of 2020, the low-cost carrier Interjet ceased operations.