Vancouver International Airport is welcoming a flurry of new direct destinations next year from across both the Pacific and the Atlantic, but the newest route with the highest strategic potential may be a flight that will travel mostly over land, starting next week.

Aeromexico’s previously announced YVR-Mexico City daily service will begin on Dec. 9. It is one of the first instances where a Latin American carrier has decided to serve Vancouver directly, and it aligns with Vancouver Airport Authority’s vision of eventually breaking open the link between Asia and Central/South America.

YVR president and CEO Craig Richmond characterized the Mexico City route (also served by a previously established Air Canada service) as an important first step in familiarizing Latin American business and leisure travellers to Vancouver. He noted Aeromexico’s 16 routes from Mexico City to Central and South American hubs can only help in attracting more interest from flyers, which in turn could entice other carriers to link to Vancouver.

“It’s a really good start,” Richmond said, noting that Aeromexico’s status as a SkyTeam member means that some passengers from other Asian partner airlines such as China Eastern and China Southern may already be booking the Asia-Latin America link through YVR. He also noted that Mexico City’s potential lies in the metropolis’s inherent difference from Mexican resort destinations served by Vancouver flights in the past, which opens up business travel — such as for those involved in mining — to use B.C. as a link to contact investors in the Far East.

“It’s fine to have the destinations to cities where there are resorts, but this is to the economic and political capital of Mexico,” Richmond said. “So you have a population of over 20 million people in Mexico City to draw on … and this can only get better. And the fact it is a daily service, that is a very powerful statement by Aeromexico that they think this is a viable route.”

YVR already has the Chinese market well covered, with among the most frequent flights scheduled to destinations in China — including so-called “secondary cities” such as Chengdu and Kunming — in North America. As some Latin American travellers start to flow through Mexico City to YVR and on to Asian destinations, Richmond hopes it eventually snowballs to more direct flights to countries like Argentina and Chile.

“I think this is a good way to start to link up all those people in Latin America with Vancouver; then eventually we will get more direct flights to destinations there,” he said. “Then, people can travel in transit from Buenos Aires to Vancouver to Shanghai very easily.”

There have been a number of major YVR-related route announcements in recent months. Air Canada will start direct flights to the Irish capital of Dublin next June, as well as doubling its service to London-Heathrow (British Airways will also be boosting capacity on the latter route). The Canadian carrier also said it will add daily flights to Chicago-O’Hare and San Diego (also in June), as well as a twice-daily route to San Jose, Calif., (the heart of Silicon Valley) in May.

This is on top of previously announced direct YVR-Brisbane service, also by Air Canada, and WestJet’s first major international foray linking to London-Gatwick starting in May. WestJet is also starting direct flights to Orlando in January, while Air France has made its Paris flight a year-round affair. Air Transat will also begin seasonal service to Rome next summer.

“We haven’t focused our attention to just any one place,” Richmond said of YVR’s efforts to attract new carriers and routes. “Of course, with the tremendous growth in China, we do keep an eye on that probably in a larger proportion, but we are open for business for any airline all over the world.”

chchiang@vancouversun.com