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From a business perspective, one has to wonder how Maya Island can suspend flights for months and then pick them up again. Do they give the equipment back to the leasing company and then lease them again, or do the planes just sit somewhere? The equipment they use on the international flights is not what they use on Belize domestic flights. I don't know much about the airline business -- except never again to buy stock in airline companies -- but it's kinda hard to understand the business plan.

The Mexican government assists airlines to make it affordable to fly people into Mexico. I don't think they assist as much in airlines using Mexico to get people to and from Belize.

Given that Mexico's biggest airline, Mexicana, went bankrupt last year, the Mexican government subsidies don't seem to have worked. too well. There also have been a ton of small airlines in Mexico to go bust, and handful of them on the Cancun routes.

I can't comment on the ability of certain airlines to run their business, but when it costs one third the price to fly to Cancun as to Belize, there lies an incentive somewhere.
And I do know, that when I was flying planes to Belize that I needed to refuel in Merida, there was a different price for fuel if I was in transit as opposed to staying in Mexico.

I think it's called volume, bywarren. Last time I checked, the island of Cancun got more than 10 times as many international air passengers as the country of Belize.

Subsidies may play a small role, but economics, demand and supply, doubtless play the major role.

Well just goes to show you what little I know not being a travel writer. Hell, I didn't even know
when I was landing planes there that I was landing on an island.
My point on the original topic of Belize airlines trying to fly to and from Cancun, was that the Mexican government is not as cooperative as with airlines just bringing passengers to Mexico. And that comes from discussions with Belize airline executives - granted over cocktails.

Believe it or not, bywarren, Cancun is, or was, an island, in the same way that Ambergris Caye is an island, sort of.

Like Ambergris Caye it was hanging onto the mainland, but before Cancun was developed as a resort it was a fishing island with a narrow bit of water between it and the mainland.

Thanks Lan. Once again, I was just being a little too sarcastic. But, bottom line is I believe, that if Maya starts flying to Cancun again and Tropic considers it, which I think is doubtful,the price will not be that attractive for various reasons.

I have to travel between Cancun and Tulum from time to time with stops along the way. I used to drive it when I had my car, but now that I live in Belize again, I use the local combi vans (white) that pick up people from the bus stops on the highway. SOme of these combis run all the way from Tulum to Chetumal, stopping at all the little villages along the way.