Southwest Airlines to ax Mexico City flights

Ben Mutzabaugh | USA TODAY

Southwest Airlines is dropping Mexico City from its route map.

The low-cost giant currently flies to the Mexican capital from Houston Hobby, its seventh-busiest airport as measured by daily departures. Flights will end March 30.

Southwest said it's making the move “as we continue to optimize our flight schedules,” adding it will “reallocate” its planes and resources used for Mexico City service “to better opportunities within our existing route network.”

Southwest first began flying to Mexico City in November 2014, part of a broader international expansion that followed the carrier’s acquisition of AirTran Airways in 2011.

Southwest’s first international flights on its own planes came on July 2, 2014, when it launched six routes to destinations in the Caribbean. A seventh route followed later that week.

In Mexico, Southwest will continue to fly to three other cities, all beach resorts: Cabo San Lucas, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta.

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