Almost all international flights from Europe arrive in Mexico, either in the country's capital, Mexico City, or in Cancún. There are also flights from Europe to Puerto Vallarta or Los Cabos, but they are sporadic. If you need to get to another airport in Mexico, you will have to transfer to a domestic flight upon arrival in the country. Many European airlines cooperate with Aeromexico and have the right to sell tickets to any airport in Mexico on their website. The flight from Europe to Mexico City is operated by the airline itself, and from Mexico City passengers are transported around the country by Aeromexico.
Let us briefly talk about the procedure when transferring from an international to a domestic flight in Mexico. An exception to the general rules — Turkish Airlines flights Istanbul — Cancún and Mexico City — Istanbul, we will talk about them below.
Passport control
Passengers undergo passport (immigration) control at the first point of arrival to Mexico. Let's say if the ticket is Amsterdam — Mexico City — Guadalajara, then passport control will be upon arrival in Mexico City. Passengers leave the plane, go to the airport terminal and pass through immigration control points.
When passing through passport control, the basis for entry into the country is checked and a migration form is issued. FMM (also called a travel visa), which gives the right to stay on Mexican territory for the number of days specified in it. The passenger's passport is stamped with an entry to Mexico stamp.
Baggage
After passing through passport control, passengers on one's own receive luggage on the belt. If the passenger has a single ticket, the airline has the opportunity to prepare luggage to the final destination in Mexico, and this final destination will be indicated on the luggage tag. But the airline will not reload luggage from an international to a domestic flight; the passenger does this independently.
Customs control
After purchasing luggage, passengers undergo customs control. If you are carrying goods, items restricted for import, or cash in the amount of more than $10,000, you must fill out a customs form before passing through customs control. declaration.
Customs control is not formal. The luggage of approximately 25% of passengers selected at random is checked. At some airports or terminals, the passenger must press a special button. If the green signal comes on, there will be no customs control; if the red signal is on — the passenger is transferred to the baggage board fromr. At other airports, customs officers randomly select passengers for baggage clearance from the queue.
During inspection, all passenger luggage (hand luggage and suitcases) is scanned, and then opened and manually inspected for differences in restricted items. Read more — see from this publication.
Baggage drop off
After customs control, the passenger must hand over his luggage for transportation on a domestic flight.
If the passenger has a single ticket and the final destination in Mexico is indicated on the baggage tag, he should check in his baggage at the baggage collection point for transit passengers. Look for signs that say Baggage / Luggage transfer or similar. Typically, such a baggage collection point is located right next to the exit from the «clean» areas at the airport into the general area of the terminal. At the reception point, the luggage tag will be scanned and the luggage will be sorted to its final destination. The whole process takes seconds.
After this, the passenger should go out to the general area of the terminal, find the from-flight area and proceed to board the next flight. It is assumed that the passenger has a boarding pass for a domestic flight within Mexico, received upon check-in for an international flight to Mexico.
If the passenger has a separate ticket, he must go with his luggage to the general area of the terminal, find the from-flight area and the airline check-in counter. At the airline counter you should check in for a domestic flight, check in your luggage and get your boarding pass. With your boarding pass you can go to the fromsummer area.
If you don't have luggage, you can check in and get your boarding pass online for many Mexican airlines on their websites. Having your boarding pass in your mobile phone, you can go straight to boarding.
Turkish Airlines flights
Turkish Airlines flights — an exception to the general rules, since Turkish Airlines does not make a connection in Mexico, but a technical one stop.
On flight Istanbul — Cancun The first point of arrival to Mexico will be Mexico City. But in Mexico City, passengers bound for Cancun do not disembark and their luggage is not unloaded. Such passengers undergo passport control and receive luggage upon arrival in Cancun.
Similarly, passengers holding a ticket from Mexico City to Istanbul go through passport control when departing Mexico City when a Turkish Airlines plane leaves Mexico after stopping in Cancun. Such passengers remain on the plane during the technical stop in Cancun.