This story has been updated to add new information.
Spring break starts in March for many California Central Valley students and families, and among the most popular spring break destinations outside of the United States is Cancún, Mexico. Many are wondering if the area is safe for travel after the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel was killed by the Mexican army.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Americans no longer need to shelter in place in Mexico. Shelter-in-place orders have been lifted in the cities where they had remained, according to a Feb. 24 security alert from the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Mexico. Additionally, flights have returned to normal in Guadalajara and extra flights are planned for Puerto Vallarta’s airport.
The U.S. State Department had issued a security warning on Feb. 22 advising Americans in Mexico to “shelter in place” until further notice amid escalating violence after the killing of the powerful drug cartel leader in a military operation. Tourists across Mexico took shelter amid a wave of retaliatory violence as gunmen block highways and torch cars.
Americans in Jalisco state, which includes Puerto Vallarta, Chapala, and Guadalajara; Tamaulipas state, which includes Reynosa and other municipalities; and areas of Michoacan state, Guerrero state, and Nuevo Leon state had been advised to remain in place due to security operations, road blockages and criminal activity, the U.S. government previously said.
The advisory had previously expanded to include Baja California state, including Tijuana, Tecate and Ensenada; Quintana Roo state, including Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Tulum; as well as Sinaloa, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Zacatecas and other areas.
Flights were canceled, including flights to and from Mexico out of major California airports such as SFO and LAX.
Puerto Vallarta International Airport on X said Sunday that all international and most national flights were canceled, while other airlines announced some cancellations in Mexico.
Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT) north of Visalia also released an update on impacted flights out of the Central Valley airport.
Two Guadalajara, Mexico flight arrivals and two departures were canceled on Sunday, Feb. 22. Additionally, one flight from Guadalajara to Fresno was delayed, which resulted in a delayed departure back to Guadalajara, according to FAT officials.
Scheduled early morning flights on Monday, Feb. 23, between Fresno and Morelia, Mexico operated as planned. FAT officials said that as of Monday afternoon, they had not been notified of any Guadalajara or other international flight cancellations or delays for Monday night.
“Passengers with scheduled flights to Mexico are encouraged to stay in contact with their airline for the latest flight information,” FAT officials stated.
Here’s what to know about the travel advisory to Mexico.
Are flights to Mexico being canceled?
While no airports have been closed, roadblocks have impacted airline operations, with most domestic and international flights cancelled in both Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, according to the U.S. Embassy alert.
American Airlines is canceled all flights on Sunday, Feb. 22 to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara, according to its website. It’s unclear when flights would resume.
Southwest Airlines also canceled a handful of flights on Sunday, and scheduled services to Puerto Vallarta “may be disrupted” until Wednesday, Feb. 25. “We’ll continue to evaluate the conditions as the situation develops. Nothing is more important to Southwest Airlines than the safety of our customers and our employees,” Southwest said in a statement to FOX Business.
Flights canceled at LAX, SFO in California
Los Angeles International Airport, or LAX, had 128 flights out of and into the airport canceled as of 10 a.m. on Feb. 23, according to FlightAware.
LAX’s site showed that several flights departing had been canceled, with the majority being East Coast destinations including New York, Newark and Boston. Flights to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara were also canceled for Feb. 23.
Flight Aware also showed that 86 flights into or out of San Francisco International Airport, or SFO, had been canceled on Monday, including all incoming flights from Boston Logan International, John F. Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International.
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, as well as Air Canada also suspended operations in Puerto Vallarta, FOX Business reported.
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, said in a morning news conference on Monday that flights will resume in the next few days.
Is it safe to travel to Cancun right now?
The U.S. Embassy listed Cancun as one of an additional 15 states in its security alert on Sunday, saying “due to ongoing security operations and related road blockages and criminal activity, U.S. citizens in a number of locations in Mexico are urged to shelter in place.”
What happened in Mexico?
The U.S. Embassy issued a security alert for various parts of Mexico following the killing of reputed drug lord “El Mencho.”
“El Mencho,” Nemesio Oseguera, the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was killed in a raid by Mexican military special forces on Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco, Mexico’s defense ministry said. The raid was conducted in collaboration with intelligence from U.S. authorities.
The powerful drug lord’s death sparked an outbreak of violence, including vehicle burnings and gunmen blocking roadways in more a dozen states in Mexico.
Is it safe to travel to Mexico right now?
The U.S. alert is for the states of Jalisco (including the cities of Guadalajara, Chapala and Puerto Vallarta), the state of Tamaulipas, (including the border city of Reynosa, across the Rio Grande from McAllen, Texas) and parts of the states of Michoacan, Guerrero and Nuevo Leon.
A Sunday evening alert update reported trouble had expanded to various cities in at least 15 states, including the states of Baja California (the cities of Tijuana, Ensenada and Tecate), Quintana Roo (Cancun), Sinaloa (Mazatlan) and areas of the states of Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Colima, Puebla, Oaxaca, the state of Mexico, Queretaro, Veracruz and Zacatecas.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Is it safe to travel to Mexico for spring break? What Visalia travelers should know
Reporting by Natassia Paloma, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Francesca Chambers, Michael Salerno and Ernesto Centeno Araujo, USA TODAY NETWORK / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
