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Viva Aerobus Increases Destinations from Mérida, Mexico

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First of all, Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, and keep warm!

Earlier this month, Mexican Low-Cost Carrier Viva Aerobus (airline code VB) added two new nonstop destinations from Mérida, the capital of Yucatán state, and the largest city in the Yucatán peninsula. (link in Spanish)

Paseo de Montejo Mansion, Mérida
Mansion along Paseo de Montejo, Mérida, Mexico

Mérida, located in one of the hotter parts in the country, is a relaxed city that doubles as an epicenter of regional Yucatecan cuisine. Take a stroll along Paseo de Montejo to check out mansions built out of fortunes made by henequén growers, an agave fiber used in the textile, construction, and transportation industries. Or, stop by ki’Xocolatl to compare a glass of pre-Hispanic hot chocolate with a more contemporary version.

For a day trip, or on the way to Cancún, a couple of hours east of Mérida lies Valladolid, a small city close to Chichen Itza, and one known for cenotes, or natural sinkholes made out of limestone, considered to be gateways to the Mayan underworld:

Cenote Zaci, Valladolid, Mexico
Cenote Zaci, Valladolid, Mexico

Once you’re satisfied with your visit to Mérida, besides the typical routes to Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Oaxaca, you might want to fly with Viva Aerobus to these two destinations.

León

Guanajuato city and San Miguel de Allende might be the most popular tourist draws in Guanajuato state, but you may want to give León a chance, too.

Templo Expiatorio del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús León
Templo Expiatorio del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, Started in 1921, León, Mexico
The Simpsons Mural in León
The Simpsons visit León Mural in León, Mexico

León isn’t a well-known tourist spot outside of Mexico, but it has a number of well-preserved cathedrals, a plethora of shoe and boot stores, and a nice tree-lined street called Calzada de los Héroes.

Viva Aerobus only started this route on 22 December — yep, three days ago — and for now, it’s operated twice weekly.

The flight schedule is as follows:

  • León BJX– Mérida MID VB9191 08:20 – 10:35 Thursday
  • BJX – MID VB9195 16:20 – 18:35 Sunday
  • MID – BJX VB9192 11:20 – 13:40 Thursday
  • MID – BJX VB9194 13:20 – 15:40 Sunday

Querétaro

Viva Aerobus began the nonstop Mérida Querétaro route on 19 December, with twice weekly flights.

Querétaro is a low-key city with a number of beautiful centuries-old convents and municipal buildings, as well as an aqueduct from the early 1700s. Also, even though San Miguel de Allende is in neighboring Guanajuato state, it’s also quite accessible from Querétaro, as is Bernal, a regional wine center.

And a bonus for airport collectors; Querétaro is one of those rare ones with scheduled passenger flights whose airport code starts with a Q (QRO).

18th Century Querétaro Aqueduct
Querétaro Aqueduct, Built out of Pink Cantera (Quarry) Stone in the early 18th Century
Museo de Arte de Querétaro with Fountain
Interior of the Museo de Arte de Querétaro (MAQRO), Built Between 1731-1745
Museo de Arte de Querétaro
Inner Courtyard of the Museo de Arte de Querétaro (MAQRO)

Flight schedule:

  • Querétaro QRO – Mérida MID VB9295 16:10 – 18:15 Monday and Friday
  • MID – QRO VB9264 13:20 – 15:30 Monday and Friday

With annual tourism traffic increasing to and within Mexico, what’s next for Viva Aerobus and the Yucatán?

Planning to visit Mérida, Querétaro, and/or León?

VietJet Air Starting Flights from Vietnam’s Fourth Largest City to Bali, Indonesia

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Originally, I was thinking of beginning this post’s title with “All About the Beach:.” But this new route isn’t merely about connecting one famous beach town in the northern hemisphere with another famous beach spot in the southern hemisphere. Oh, no.

According to aeroroutes.com, starting on 16 December of this year, on four days each week, low-cost carrier (LCC) VietJet Air will be connecting Da Nang, Vietnam with Bali, Indonesia, using its 220-seat Airbus A321 narrowbodies (aka single-aisle aircraft). 

However, I cannot find any information about these flights on vietjetair.com, so perhaps they haven’t been loaded into the system yet:

a screenshot of a flight registration
Source: https://www.vietjetair.com/en/select-flight-cheap

Nevertheless, let’s send some photos your way to convince you — or remind you — that this might be a nifty route to have in your Southeast Asia arsenal:

Tegallalang rice terraces Bali
Yours Truly at the Tegallalang Rice Terraces, Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia
ulun danu temple Bali
Pura Ulun Danu Beratan Bedugul, Tabanan, Bali, Indonesia

As for Da Nang:

avocado coffee danang vietnam
Avocado Coffee, Danang, Vietnam
coracle da nang beach vietnam
Coracle, Da Nang Beach, Vietnam (ok, so I didn’t have time to go to the cable car in the mountains)

For flight information, the tentative schedule is as follows (which depends on the day it operates):

VJ951 DAD (Da Nang, Vietnam) Depart 07:15 Arrive 12:55 DPS (Bali, Indonesia)
VJ951 DAD Depart 11:40 Arrive 17:20 DPS

VJ950 DPS Depart 14:00 Arrive 17:35 DAD
VJ950 DPS Depart 18:20 Arrive 22:55 DAD

Visa information for Indonesia’s visa-on-arrival can be found here, and for Vietnam’s e-Visa, here.

n.b., yes, there is a MOM airport code, stemming from Letfotar Airport in Moudjeria, Mauritania.

Iceland’s PLAY to Start Seasonal Flights to this New England City

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Presque Isle? Burlington? Worcester?

If you are familiar with Iceland’s years-long desire to connect North America with continental Europe, then those destinations might not seem too far-fetched. Alas this time, I’m referring to PLAY starting flights tomorrow, 11 May, to Boston.

Iceland PLAY airline route map
Source: https://www.flyplay.com/en/routemap

You see, Iceland’s main hub — not Reyjavik, the capital — but Keflavik (KEF), near the capital, has one major advantage: being able to use narrow-body jets to cut down on fuel costs, while also tapping into price-sensitive secondary international markets — sometimes with shorter runways — to fly new routes between the United States and Europe.

In this case, however, Boston is no slouch. It’s a major hub, the 16th busiest in the U.S., and will now have two carriers serving Iceland, alongside Icelandair.

PLAY is Iceland’s low-cost carrier du jour, and charges extra for everything from seat assignments and meals to bags and on-time arrivals. Given that Europe is abrogating many of its COVID-19 restrictions, you can probably expect PLAY more flight announcements later this year.

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