A new airline made its debut in Guadalajara last week offering immediate savings on flights to several destinations, including Puerto Vallarta.
Headquartered in Queretero, Transportes Aereos Regionales (TAR) has also set up hubs in Guadalajara and Monterrey.
The inaugural flight left from Guadalajara International Airport for the 45-minute journey to Puerto Vallarta on March 19. Two airplanes with capacity for 50 passengers will service the route at first, increasing to three by November. TAR also flies from Guadalajara to Queretero and additional routes to Durango and Los Mochis will open soon.
A TAR website check on Tuesday of this week showed a flight to Puerto Vallarta for Monday, March 29, returning one week later, priced at 2,586 pesos. An equivalent flight on Aeromexico was quoted at 3,990 pesos.
Meanwhile, a TAR flight to Queretero on Tuesday, April 1, returning one week later, could be purchased on the TAR website for 2,382.46 pesos.
Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval said the arrival of TAR on the scene was good for the state as it provides competition and should help lower air fares to Vallarta, something passengers have been demanding for a long time.
To drive from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta and back in an average-sized vehicle costs around 1,800 pesos, including tolls. A luxury bus ride is priced at just under 1,000 pesos. Journey time is five hours.
The number of flights arriving at the Puerto Vallarta airport in 2013 increased by 1.5 percent compared to the year before – 13,400 flights in total.