Southwest Debuts Flights From LA to Puerto Vallarta with Plenty of Fanfare Tim Wood - Travel Pulse
go to original December 6, 2016

Passengers celebrate the airline's first flight from Los Angeles to Puerto Vallarta. (courtesy Southwest Airlines)

December 9 Update: Due to a paperwork problem, Southwest discontinued flights from LAX to PVR after only 3 days of operation. Read more at Skift.

December 12 Update: Southwest Airlines on Sunday resumed recently suspended flights between Los Angeles and three resort cities in Mexico. Read more at Dallas News.

After already making huge strides in the Mexico market in the past two years, Southwest Airlines continued to open the market further Sunday by introducing the first flights to Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and Los Cabos from Los Angeles International Airport.

These are the first routes being put into operation since the signing of the bilateral agreement between the two countries, with one daily nonstop offered to Puerto Vallarta and two non-stops each to Los Cabos and Cancun.

“This is a great day for us. To think we’re just a few months into our third year of international travel and we’re able to open this route, it’s exciting for the company,” said Southwest Vice President of Finance Paul Cullen. “It continues to show the amazing growth opportunity that Mexico represents for us and the strong demand.”

...Passengers were provided with Mexico flags as they boarded the Puerto Vallarta flight, and waved them proudly as the crew and Southwest officials led a round of applause.

As the near-capacity plane set down in Puerto Vallarta, the passengers were greeted with a fire-engine water arch salute and an airport employee with the perfect greeting:

“Are you ready to go to the beach and drink tequila, passengers?”

That qualified for most passenger applause for the day until the crowd began to deplane, only to be greeted by margaritas and a happy serenade from an adorably talented child mariachi band...

Read the entire article at Travel Pulse.