In Houston, nearly 4,600 Chiapanecos live. For many of them, returning home for a wedding, a funeral, or the December holidays has for years been a detour of layovers: first a flight to Mexico City or Monterrey, then dead hours in a transit lounge, and only then, the final leg to Tuxtla Gutiérrez. Starting October 28, that detour disappears.
The announcement became official this Tuesday, June 2, 2026. At the Ángel Albino Corzo International Airport, the Government of Chiapas and United Airlines signed the agreement that launches the Houston–Tuxtla Gutiérrez international route, the first international departure the state will have in more than a decade. The event was led by Governor Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar as witness of honor; the signing was carried out by Antonio Noguera Zurita, general director of the airport, and Adolfo Eduardo Velasco Torres, United Airlines sales manager in Mexico. Alerta Chiapas had been following the topic since April, when it advanced the first signs of the state’s international opening.
A connection that opens the world from the central valley
The appeal of the route does not stop in Houston. George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) is one of United’s main connection hubs: from there, non-stop flights depart to more than 60 international destinations across five continents, from Europe and South America to Asia and the Middle East.
For a traveler from Chiapas, this means that reaching Madrid, Bogotá, or Tokyo could be resolved with a single connection in Houston, without first flying into the saturated terminal of Mexico City. The Secretary of Economy and Labor, Luis Pedrero González, put it into perspective for the guests: the route brings Chiapas closer to some 180 destinations “just two and a half hours from Tuxtla.”
United does not arrive as just another operator. The airline celebrates six decades of uninterrupted operation between Mexico and the United States this year and serves 24 cities in the country; with Tuxtla, it adds number 25. It will be, as announced by Velasco Torres, the first and only airline to connect Chiapas with the United States, and the third new Mexican destination the company has opened since 2025, after Puerto Escondido and Tepic–Riviera Nayarit, both also towards Houston.
Three flights per week on an Embraer with Starlink Wi-Fi
The operation will feature three weekly frequencies—Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday—managed by United Express, using Embraer E175 aircraft operated by SkyWest. The aircraft, with between 70 and 76 seats, offers United First, Economy Plus, and Economy class, as well as complimentary Starlink Wi-Fi on board. The flight to Tuxtla is scheduled at two hours and 55 minutes, and the return flight at two hours and 44 minutes.
| Flight | Frequency | Departs from | Arrives at | Duration |
| UA5340 | 3 per week | Houston (IAH) 9:50 a.m. | Tuxtla (TGZ) 12:45 p.m. | 2 h 55 min |
| UA5341 | 3 per week | Tuxtla (TGZ) 1:35 p.m. | Houston (IAH) 4:19 p.m. | 2 h 44 min |
According to sales information, a round trip in Economy Standard fare is around 938 dollars. External search engines do not yet show the route, so the confirmed way to book is through the airline’s own portal.
An economic impact that the government is already putting into numbers
Beyond the returning traveler, the state government sees the route as an economic lever. Pedrero González did the math out loud: three full flights represent about 225 passengers per week; if four out of ten were tourists, that would mean 90 new visitors. With an average expenditure of 1,882 pesos per day of stay—data from 2025—the tourist economic impact would hover around 1.2 million pesos weekly, about 65 thousand dollars at the current exchange rate, a figure that—he calculates—could be between 30 and 40% higher with an American visitor.
| Indicator | Estimate |
| Passengers per week (three full flights) | 225 |
| Tourists per week (40%) | 90 |
| Daily expenditure per tourist (2025 data) | 1,882 pesos |
| Estimated weekly tourist economic impact | ~1.2 million pesos (≈65,000 USD) |
The calculation, he said, is just one part. Houston is not only a logistical node: it is an energy and petrochemical hub, with strong medical and educational sectors, areas in which the official sees synergies with Chiapas’ strategic projects, from the airport’s own industrial park and development hubs to luxury tourism and agri-food exports.
Migration, customs, and the requirements to fly
The fact that the destination is foreign changes the terminal’s operation. Ángel Albino Corzo has been designed as an international airport since its opening in 2006 and has migration and customs facilities that the new route will put back into operation. In practice, the National Institute of Migration (INM) and customs will check those leaving for and arriving from Houston, a procedure that domestic flights do not require.
For the passenger, this translates into concrete requirements: a valid passport and a US visa—or equivalent document—to enter the United States, in addition to arriving with more anticipation than on a domestic flight. It is advisable to book directly on the airline’s website to avoid intermediaries.
The first step of a larger bet
The opening fits into the strategy that the government of Chiapas promotes, through its Secretariat of Tourism, to place the state in the international market, with the 2026 FIFA World Cup—which will have Houston as one of its venues—as a backdrop. The Secretary of Tourism, Segundo Guillén Gordillo, framed the route within the state’s nature and culture vocation, comparing it to the traveler who already seeks authentic experiences in destinations like Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, or Chile.
The confirmed operator is United, and not the state airline AeroBalam, whose nine-seat aircraft are intended for regional routes within the state. Nor will it be the first time United touches Chiapanecan soil: the airline flew to Tuxtla between 2010 and 2013 and later left the route.
Governor Ramírez Aguilar made it clear that the agreement is not the end of the road. He asked his team to look for a second international destination once the route is consolidated, announced that a connection with Puebla is also coming, and set his sights on the Tapachula airport—currently with a departure to Tijuana—as a gateway to the Central American market and a future development hub with fiscal incentives.
For the nearly 4,600 Chiapanecos living in Houston, the math is simpler than any economic impact projection. On October 28, returning home will stop being measured in layovers and waiting rooms: it will be a single flight of just under three hours. Taking off from Texas in the morning and, before night falls, hearing the marimba again in the Tuxtla valley.
Source: alertachiapas
