Airlines double Fresno-Guadalajara flights over the holiday season. Here’s the lineup
Alaska Airlines’ announcement last week that it would offer seasonal daily nonstop flights between Fresno and Guadalajara, Mexico, is just one shot in an airline skirmish to capture passengers that will temporarily double the number of daily flights on the popular route over the coming winter holiday season.
Two Mexico-based airlines, Volaris and Aeromexico, together currently offer three nonstop round trips each day between the two cities. All three of the Fresno departures are “red-eye” flights that depart either very late at night or the wee hours of the morning.
Alaska Airlines’ flights change that dynamic, providing a morning departure from Fresno at 7 a.m. each day to arrive in Guadalajara at about 12:40 p.m. The seasonal service, which launches Dec. 3 and continues through Feb. 12, makes Alaska the only domestic airline to fly nonstop between Fresno and Guadalajara.
Alaska’s flights from Guadalajara are scheduled to take off at 8:50 p.m. and arrive in Fresno at 10:54 p.m. Guadalajara is two time zones ahead of Fresno.
Volaris, which already offers two daily nonstops between the two cities, wasted little time matching Alaska Airlines’ move. As of Monday, Volaris’ ticketing engine on its website included its own 7 a.m. departure from Fresno starting Dec. 4 through Feb. 13. Those flights will arrive in Guadalajara at 12:25, beating Alaska’s flights by about 15 minutes.
The seasonal Volaris daytime flight is in addition to its existing daily nonstop flights which depart from Fresno at 12:50 a.m. and 1:50 a.m..
The other airline on the Fresno-Guadalajara route, Aeromexico, currently has a flight that departs Fresno just before midnight each night. It has added a second daily nonstop flight with a 10:15 p.m. departure starting Dec. 19 through Jan. 5.
City officials said almost 239,000 passengers flew on flights between Fresno and Guadalajara in 2023.
“The winter holiday season is the busiest period for travel to Guadalajara and the added capacity will expand this popular international air gateway between California’s Central Valley and Mexico,” Fresno airports director Henry Thompson said last week.
Fresno ranks fourth among U.S. airports in the numbers of passengers flying to Guadalajara – the capital of the state of Jalisco and the second most populous metropolitan area in Mexico with about 5.5 million residents. Fresno and Guadalajara became Sister Cities in 2022.
The temporary boost to three airlines serving the Fresno-Guadalajara route will be the largest number of airlines serving any single nonstop destination from Fresno Yosemite International Airport. Likewise, the six daily nonstops will be the most flights from Fresno to any destination, domestic or international.
