Mexico’s flagship air carrier began operating direct flights between Seoul and Mexico City on Monday, creating the first direct route to Central America from Incheon International Airport.

“This year, in a way, can be described as an Asian expansion year,” Aeromexico’s Chief Revenue Officer Anko Van der Werff told reporters at the Shilla Seoul the same day.

The airline will use a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the route, which will fly out of Incheon four times a week. 

According to air travel intelligence company Official Airline Guide, the annual passenger demand for Korea-Mexico travel grew at an average of 36 percent each year since 2012 to reach 93,000 travelers last year. 

Hector Flores, the CEO of Mexico’s tourism organization, said that 28,000 visitors from Korea had come to Mexico in the first five months of 2017.

However, until now there had been no direct flights to Central and South America out of Incheon Airport, forcing passengers to transfer at points such as Los Angeles.

For Aeromexico, Seoul is the third destination in Asia following Shanghai, China and Tokyo, Japan. The airline is part of Skyteam, which also includes Korea’s flagship carrier Korean Air.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)