US Crackdown Cuts Mexico City Felipe Angeles Flights

Published on Nov 24, 2025, 12:53 pm CST

10 min read

Key points

A US DOT order on October 28 cancels 13 Mexican airline routes and bans all Felipe Angeles International Airport flights to US cities
The cuts hit Aeromexico, Volaris, and Viva Aerobus links from Mexico City to hubs including Houston, Miami, Denver, New York, Chicago, and Orlando
New growth for Mexican carriers from Mexico City International Airport to the US is frozen while a further ban on belly cargo is under consideration
Felipe Angeles is effectively pushed back to domestic and regional routes, which concentrates long haul demand and connections through Mexico City International Airport instead
Travelers booked on affected services must be reaccommodated or refunded and should build in more connection time or consider alternative Mexican gateways

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Expect capacity cuts and fuller cabins on remaining Mexico City to US flights especially at major hubs like Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Miami
Best Times To Fly: Aim for off peak travel on existing Mexico City International Airport services and avoid peak holiday weekends when remaining seats will sell out fastest
Connections And Misconnect Risk: Leave extra buffer for self made connections and avoid planning tight same day turns through Mexico City when relying on Mexican low cost carriers
What Travelers Should Do Now: Check whether your booking touches Felipe Angeles or the disapproved routes, ask the airline for rerouting or refund options, and consider shifting to other Mexican gateways
Fares And Capacity Pressures: Monitor fares from alternative airports such as Guadalajara and Monterrey because demand spilling out of Mexico City may raise prices across central Mexico

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Travelers who expected new nonstops between the United States and the Mexico City region now face fewer choices, because the U.S. Department of Transportation has ordered 13 routes operated by Mexican airlines canceled and banned all passenger and cargo flights between U.S. airports and Felipe Angeles International Airport (NLU). The October 28, 2025 order targets Aeromexico, Volaris, and Viva Aerobus and also freezes new growth from Mexico City International Airport (MEX), which concentrates demand onto a smaller set of approved routes. Anyone who had built plans around those Mexico City Felipe Angeles flights now needs to rethink routings, add connection buffer, or shift to alternative gateways in central Mexico.

In plain terms, the Mexico City Felipe Angeles flights ban removes an entire airport from the U.S. network and locks in a ceiling on new Mexican carrier flights from Mexico City International Airport, which will tighten capacity and push more travelers onto existing services or connecting itineraries through other Mexican cities.

What The DOT Order Actually Does

Order 2025-10-13, served on October 28, formally revokes approval for 13 current or proposed transborder routes and cancels all combined passenger and cargo flights between Felipe Angeles International Airport and any U.S. destination. In the same action, the Department of Transportation, DOT, froze any further growth in Mexican carrier combination services between Mexico City International Airport and the United States, citing an ongoing competitive imbalance and Mexico's failure to honor the 2015 U.S. Mexico Air Transport Agreement.

The department argues that for roughly three years, Mexican authorities have canceled or frozen U.S. carrier slots at Mexico City International Airport, forced all cargo operations to relocate to Felipe Angeles, and applied non transparent slot rules that favor domestic airlines. Officials frame the new restrictions as retaliation designed to restore "fair and equal opportunity" for U.S. airlines rather than a safety measure or a general political sanction.

Importantly for travelers, the order does not shut down Mexico City International Airport as a U.S. gateway. Existing U.S. and Mexican carrier routes at that airport can keep operating for now, but Mexican airlines cannot add new routes or frequencies to the United States out of MEX until the dispute is resolved or DOT relaxes its stance.

Which Routes Are Affected

DOT lists the 13 disapproved routes by airline and city pair. They include one Aeromexico route from Mexico City International Airport to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and one Volaris route from Mexico City International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), both of which lose U.S. approval.

The largest block of cuts falls on Viva Aerobus. Its proposed services from Felipe Angeles International Airport to Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Chicago O Hare International Airport (ORD), Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Denver International Airport (DEN), George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Miami International Airport (MIA), and Orlando International Airport (MCO) are all disapproved.

Aeromexico also loses approval for its current combined passenger and cargo flights from Felipe Angeles International Airport to George Bush Intercontinental Airport and McAllen Miller International Airport (MFE), effectively wiping out its U.S. footprint from the newer Mexico City airport.

Beyond those 13 city pairs, the order bans any other combined passenger and cargo flights between Felipe Angeles and the United States, which means no Mexican carrier can quietly add a different Felipe Angeles route to a U.S. city while the order stands. For practical purposes, Felipe Angeles will focus on domestic and Latin American flying, while long haul transborder demand concentrates through Mexico City International Airport and a handful of secondary gateways.

Background, How The Dispute Erupted

The current confrontation traces back to the 2015 U.S. Mexico Air Transport Agreement, often described as an Open Skies style deal that was supposed to let airlines decide which routes to fly and at what capacity without heavy government interference, as long as basic safety and competition rules were met. Beginning in 2022, however, Mexico reduced the number of operations permitted at Mexico City International Airport, removed some U.S. carrier slots, and ordered all cargo airlines to move from MEX to Felipe Angeles, a remote airport that had weaker ground access and little existing demand.

U.S. regulators say those moves violated the spirit and letter of the air services deal by tilting the playing field toward Mexican carriers that were still allowed to grow at Mexico City International Airport while foreign airlines were pushed out or capped. DOT had already refused to renew antitrust immunity for the Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico joint venture on similar grounds, arguing that Mexico's slot and cargo policies distorted the cross border market and undermined fair competition.

Mexico's government strongly disagrees. President Claudia Sheinbaum has called the U.S. actions unilateral, promised to seek diplomatic talks with Washington, and more recently agreed to hand back some Mexico City International Airport slots to U.S. carriers as a partial concession, but she has not accepted DOT's view that the country is in breach of the agreement.

How This Reshapes Mexico City And Central Mexico Capacity

For most travelers, the immediate effect is a quiet removal of future options rather than an overnight wave of mass cancellations. Many of the Viva Aerobus Felipe Angeles routes were still in the proposed or early sales phase, so some travelers will see their planned new nonstops never appear, while others will receive cancellation notices and reaccommodation offers.

In the short term, long haul and U.S. bound demand that might have used Felipe Angeles shifts back toward Mexico City International Airport and competing hubs like Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Cancun. Felipe Angeles, which was already handling modest international traffic mostly to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Venezuela, now looks even more like a domestic and regional field than a serious transborder rival to Mexico City International Airport.

Over the next few seasons, the freeze on new Mexico City International Airport growth for Mexican carriers will probably matter more than the immediate list of 13 canceled routes. Mexican airlines cannot add new transborder frequencies or city pairs from MEX, even if demand continues to grow, while U.S. carriers retain the option to adjust their own schedules within slot constraints. That leaves a real risk of fuller cabins and higher load factors on surviving routes into major hubs such as Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami, and Orlando.

Pricing, Waivers, And Rebooking

Travelers already ticketed on one of the disapproved city pairs should hear directly from their airline, because DOT's order makes the flights unsellable and forces the carriers to wind them down or cancel them outright. In most cases, passengers should be offered either a refund or reaccommodation on a different routing, for example shifting from a Felipe Angeles departure to Mexico City International Airport or connecting through another Mexican city.

Because the order is a regulatory decision rather than an airline operational issue, carriers are likely to couch their policies in terms of "involuntary" changes. That normally means you can ask for a refund if the new itinerary no longer works, especially when the replacement involves a different airport or a significantly longer travel time, although exact rules depend on the fare and the airline. Travelers who booked through online travel agencies or package providers may need to work through those intermediaries, which adds time and friction.

On pricing, shoppers should expect fewer promotional fares on the affected city pairs and more pressure on alternative gateways. Once Viva Aerobus and Aeromexico can no longer grow U.S. networks out of Felipe Angeles or Mexico City International Airport, their incentive to dump capacity to win market share on those routes fades, and remaining services have less direct competition.

Choosing Alternative Airports And Routes

For travelers whose plans depended on the now disapproved Felipe Angeles routes, the first choice is whether to swap airports in Mexico City or reroute through another Mexican hub. Mexico City International Airport remains the dominant gateway, with far more daily departures, connections, and airline choices than Felipe Angeles, so in many cases the simplest fix is to shift to MEX, even if that means heavier traffic and longer lines.

However, central Mexico has other options. Depending on your itinerary, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Leon Bajio, or even Queretaro can serve as alternative entry points, especially if you are heading to industrial corridors or resort areas rather than the Mexico City urban core. In those cases, travelers should weigh the cost and time of an extra domestic hop or a longer drive against the convenience of avoiding crowded Mexico City connections.

Travelers planning multi city trips within Mexico should also think about surface transport risk on key corridors. Recent events such as the November 24 "megablockade" of major highways into Mexico City, which hit airport transfers and resort runs, show how easily roads can become chokepoints even when flights are operating normally. For deeper background on how nationwide highway disruptions interact with airport access, see Adept Traveler's coverage in Mexico's November 24 Highway Megablockade Hits Airports And Tourist Corridors.

What Travelers Should Do Now

If you already hold a ticket on Aeromexico, Volaris, or Viva Aerobus that mentions Felipe Angeles or one of the named city pairs, check your reservation status and email contact details in the airline's app or website, then watch for change notices over the coming weeks. When a change appears, compare any automatic reaccommodation against your own needs, especially if it shifts you to a different airport, and do not be shy about asking for a different routing or refund if the option offered is unreasonable.

If you are just beginning to plan a trip, assume that Felipe Angeles will not be available for U.S. bound flights until further notice and focus your search on Mexico City International Airport or other Mexican gateways. Consider booking itineraries that give you flexibility, such as fares with lower change fees, and avoid tight back to back commitments that depend on a specific new route launching on time.

Finally, keep an eye on the broader dispute. Mexico has already moved to hand over some Mexico City International Airport slots to U.S. airlines, and both governments say they want to resolve the disagreement, but neither side has announced a clear timeline. Until the two aviation authorities agree on concrete steps and DOT revises or lifts its order, travelers should treat the Felipe Angeles ban and the Mexico City growth freeze as medium term constraints, not a passing headline.