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Triangle travelers can now fly nonstop from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to three places in Mexico — Cancun, Mexico City and now the western city of Guadalajara.
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The low-cost Mexican airline Volaris made its inaugural flights between RDU and Guadalajara on Friday. The carrier will fly the route three days a week — Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays — using a 238-seat Airbus A321neo.
Volaris calls itself an “ultra low-cost airline,” advertising one-way fares from RDU under $100. Travelers shouldn’t expect any luxuries; all seats are economy class, and drinks and snacks are extra.
But those low fares and the chance to fly to the third-largest metro area in Mexico in about 3 1/2 hours will help fill planes, according to Fernanda Pereda, the airline’s U.S. sales and marketing manager. Many RDU passengers on Volaris will have ties to the region, Pereda said Friday awaiting arrival of the first flight from Mexico.
“North Carolina is home to one of the fastest growing Mexican and Hispanic-American populations in the United States,” she said. “These direct flights allow thousands of families to reunite more quickly and affordably.”
With a population of nearly 1.4 million, Guadalajara is the capital of the western Mexican state of Jalisco and anchors a metro area of more than 5 million people. Jalisco, home to Mexico’s tequila industry, is the birthplace of mariachi music and includes the coastal resort city of Puerto Vallarta. Guadalajara dates back to the 1500s and has a culinary scene and cultural and architectural landmarks that draw tourists.
But the region is also an important business hub, with significant operations for companies such as IBM, Lenovo, General Electric and Micron, said Cesar Remis, who leads international trade and engagement efforts for the N.C. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“Most of those companies are also here as well, doing research and development in the area,” said Remis, as he waited to board the flight to Guadalajara. “So I think it makes sense to have a bridge between the two regions, and I think that’s what the airline is looking at.”
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Guadalajara has more in common with the Research Triangle region than many North Carolinians may realize, said Lorena Patterson, president of the Hispanic chamber. That includes two universities — N.C. State and the University of Guadalajara — that already share in research, Patterson said.
“A lot of talent in engineering, technology, manufacturing, which I think is a huge link with North Carolina,” she said. “We have the RTP. They have something like that. That’s why they call it the Silicon Valley of Mexico.”
Volaris becomes the 19th airline doing business at RDU, while Guadalajara becomes the 14th international destination. The city is a hub for Volaris, with connections to dozens of places in Mexico and Central and South America, Pereda said. Sales on the RDU flights have been strong so far, she said.
RDU is the second North Carolina destination for Volaris, after Charlotte Douglas International Airport. More than 1.4 million Hispanics now live in North Carolina, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, up 26% in five years, and Mexicans represent the largest single group of immigrants in the state, according to the American Immigration Council.
In that way, the Volaris flight is both a solid business proposition and symbolic of a growing relationship, said Donají Alba Arroyo, general consul at the Mexican consulate in Raleigh.
“Sharing is an important word that’s related to this flight,” Alba Arroyo said. “Sharing the culture, sharing the business, sharing the people who want to do studies here or in Mexico. And that’s something that’s common to our cultures — the American and the Mexican culture. We’re friends, we’re neighbors, and it’s a very important thing to share this flight.”
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This story was originally published October 16, 2026 at 4:58 PM.