DALLAS — Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris (Y4) has launched its first route from Chicago to Central America, providing nonstop service to Guatemala City and continuing service to San Salvador, both operated with an Airbus A320neo aircraft with 186 seats.

In addition to the new Guatemala City service, the airline, based in Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City, and with its operating bases in Cancún, Culiacán, Guadalajara, León/Del Bajío, Mexicali, Mexico City, Monterrey, and Tijuana, also serves six destinations in Mexico from Chicago and six destinations in Mexico from Midway International Airport (MDW).

To celebrate the new ORD-GUA-SAL route, which marks Y4's first foray into non-Mexican destinations, the Chicago Department of Aviation and the LCC provided promotional giveaways to passengers on the inaugural flight to Guatemala City. The launch of this route has made Chicago the second U.S. city, after Los Angeles, to have service to Guatemala on the Mexican LCC.

O'Hare's Links to Central America

By the holiday season, O'Hare International Airport (ORD—a nod to the airfield's history, which started its life as Orchard Field Airport (OrchaRD) in 1945, at the site where Douglas Corporation had a wartime aircraft assembly plant) will offer service to Guatemala City aboard three different carriers for the first time, including Y4, United Airlines (UA), and Avianca (AV).

This expansion of service at ORD strengthens its position as a global aviation hub and offers diverse and convenient travel options for passengers, particularly those who are price-sensitive and need fast connections to family, friends, and business opportunities in Guatemala and El Salvador.

According to the most recent Census, there are more than 20,000 residents of Guatemalan descent and approximately 7,000 residents of Salvadoran descent in the Chicagoland area.

Featured image: N517VL Volaris Airbus A320-200. Photo: Nick Sheeder/Airways

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