Unlike many markets around the world, Mexico has remained open to airline passengers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with no testing or quarantine requirements. And the US-which essentially banned travelers from 33 countries, including Canada, for 18 months-has continued to allow Mexican passengers to fly north. As a result, US-Mexico transborder air traffic remained relatively robust throughout the pandemic and quickly rebounded in 2021. By May, US-Mexico monthly air passengers carried had already exceeded May 2019 levels. The strength of the US-Mexican market has led carriers on both sides of the border to seek opportunities for growth. This is somewhat complicated by the FAA's downgrading of Mexico's safety status from Category 1 to Category 2 in May 2021, a move that prevents Mexican carriers from starting new routes to the US (although they can grow transborder capacity via upgauging aircraft). It also prevents US airlines from marketing and selling tickets for Mexican airline-operated flights on which the US carriers had previously codeshared.
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