Conviasa is putting its Mexico City flight back. The Venezuelan state airline suspended its Caracas to Mexico City service on 27 October 2026 to concentrate its aircraft on domestic flying; from Tuesday 17 November 2026 the route returns, one flight a week on Tuesdays, flown with an Airbus A340.
One detail decides how this trip works: the flight serves Felipe Angeles International Airport (NLU), the airport 50 km north of the city, not Benito Juarez (MEX). This post covers the restoration, and is honest about what that airport change means for the ride into town.
What is happening
The restoration reverses a short suspension. On 27 October 2026 Conviasa shelved two international routes, Caracas to Havana and Caracas to Mexico City, saying it wanted to concentrate its aircraft on domestic flying. Havana service resumed first, on 13 November, operating twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays. The Mexico City route follows on 17 November at one flight a week, on Tuesdays.
The reporting, carried by aeroTELEGRAPH and published on 14 November, adds colour rather than an explanation: the Cuba pause had been blamed on the high cost of operating the four engine Airbus A340 on a route with modest demand, and the airline has not said what changed its mind.
For travelers, the usable facts are the day and the airport. One Tuesday flight a week means a missed connection costs a week, not a day, and Felipe Angeles is a different arrival from Benito Juarez in every practical way: the Mexico City guide states plainly that NLU sits 50 km north and that none of its MEX transfer times apply to it. Plan the NLU ground leg from the airport’s own channels before you fly, and use the guide below for everything once you are in the city, and for any onward departure from MEX.
Getting there after you land
See our MEX to center transfer guide for every MEX option, priced and compared. No verified NLU prices or times are published in either source, so none are quoted.
Metrobus Line 4, from MEXCheapest at MEX
Direct from both MEX terminals to the Centro Historico and Buenavista, with room for luggage, on the integrated mobility card.
Uber and DiDi, from MEX
Usually the cheapest door to door option at MEX, price locked in the app, meeting the driver at the designated pickup zone.
Authorized airport taxi, from MEX
Fixed by zone and printed at the booth inside MEX arrivals; pay at the counter, never to a tout in the corridor.
The full first hour: Mexico City guide
The ride in, the first ticket and the first meal, plus where to stay in Mexico City.
Where to stay, and getting back
For a Splurge, Gran Hotel Ciudad de Mexico, at 16 de Septiembre 82 in the Centro Historico, is an Art Nouveau landmark right on the Zocalo, with a Tiffany stained glass ceiling and a rooftop terrace across the square from the Cathedral. For Mid-range, Hotel Historico Central, at Simon Bolivar 28, is a colonial era mansion a few blocks from the Zocalo whose 24 hour cafe keeps breakfast and coffee included around the clock, a genuinely useful perk for jet lagged arrivals. For Budget, Hostal Amigo, at Isabel la Catolica 61-A, is a long running backpacker base in the historic center with dorms, private rooms and a free breakfast buffet.
For getting back, remember which airport your ticket names: MEX departures use the rides above, while the Tuesday Conviasa departure leaves from NLU, so build the longer ground leg into that day and confirm the airport on the booking, not from memory.
The first hour, sorted
Sort data before you leave the terminal: the guide names an Airalo eSIM for Mexico, installed before you fly, with Saily as the comparison, and Telcel starter packs at airport OXXO stores as the local SIM route. Rideshare pickups, maps and translation all depend on being online.
Use an ATM inside the terminal for your first pesos and decline the machine’s conversion offer: prices in Mexico are written with the same $ sign as dollars, and a $200 taco bill is pesos. Cards work in most Centro and Roma restaurants and hotels; markets, street stalls and many taquerias are cash only, so keep small bills. Tap water is not safe to drink: hotels and restaurants serve purified water.
For a first meal, the guide sends you to El Cardenal in the Centro for breakfast, hot chocolate whisked at the table and warm conchas with nata, or to Taqueria El Califa de Leon for the gaonera taco, with cash in hand. The city sits at 2,240 meters, so keep the first outing gentle: the Zocalo and Calle Madero to the Palacio de Bellas Artes as the light fades.
Browse the events calendar for what is on in the city while you are there, and use plan your trip to line up the days around the trip.
First meals, Xochimilco and Teotihuacan, for the days around the trip.
Get the Mexico City first hour checklist by email
The ride in, the first ticket and the first meal, in the Mexico City guide PDF you can read on the plane.
The checklist, free, from After You Land.
What else is on
The events calendar tracks every guided city, strikes and stoppages included.
Events calendarLine up the rest
Plan your trip pulls the guide, the stays and the bookings for this trip into one place.
Plan your trip