‘We are happy to be leaving’: Tourists head to Puerto Vallarta as flights resume at Toronto airport

Air Cananda, West Jet, Air Transat and Porter are resuming flights to and from Puerto Vallarta after violence in the region. CP24’s Beatrice Vaisman reports.

Flights have resumed to Puerto Vallarta at Toronto Pearson International Airport this morning as eager travellers say they hope to get their vacation back on track after Sunday’s cartel-related violence.

Flights were cancelled to and from the popular resort area in the Jalisco state on Sunday and Monday due to unrest that followed the death of powerful drug cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, the head of the Jalisco New Generation cartel who was killed following a raid by security forces on Sunday.

Many people at resorts reported seeing smoke billowing in the distance as cars, buses, and stores were set ablaze in nearby towns.

The violence spread across multiple Mexican states in the immediate aftermath and authorities deployed the army and the National Guard to restore order.

Todd Martin, who is heading to Puerto Vallarta from Toronto on Tuesday, said he was “a little bit depressed” when the news broke about the violence.

“We talked to people down there yesterday and everything has calmed down,” he told CP24’s Beatrice Vaisman at the airport on Tuesday morning.

Martin noted that he only missed one day of his vacation and isn’t concerned about his safety.

“We are not going to be right in Puerto Vallarta as it is,” he said. “We’ve just got to get through the airport.”

‘We are happy to be leaving’

Christine Dusablon said she’s happy to salvage her vacation after her flight was cancelled on Monday.

“There was some unrest, but I figured it would pass. I figured things would calm down,” she said at Pearson airport on Tuesday.

“It is a great place to go. It is peaceful and we are happy to be leaving.”

Some officials, including Premier Doug Ford, have urged Canadians to reconsider travel to the country amid the escalating violence.

Speaking at an unrelated news conference on Monday, Ford told travellers to avoid Mexico, saying the country is “not stable right now.”

“Don’t go there and maybe pick an island somewhere, or here in Canada,” he said Monday.

Ford said if necessary, he will work with the federal government to bring Ontario travellers stuck in Mexico back to the country. Travellers who were stranded in Puerto Vallarta over the past 48 hours are set to begin arriving at Pearson airport on Tuesday evening following the resumption of commercial flights.

The federal government issued a new advisory over the weekend, urging Canadians to avoid non-essential travel to certain parts of the country, including the Jalisco state where the violence erupted on Sunday. Ottawa notes that people visiting other popular tourist areas in Mexico, including Cancun, should exercise a high degree of caution.

‘A second home’

Andy Lank, who was set to board a flight to Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday morning, said he has been going to the area for more than 25 years, calling it a “second home.”

“We decided if the travel advisory was such that we were still able to travel we would as soon as the airline could get us out,” he told CP24.

“It will be interesting to see what it is like but we also have people down there that we are in communication with so we’ve got some good information that it is safe to go and we will observe all the rules that they have down there.”

‘Read the travel advisory’: Canada’s ambassador to Mexico

Canada’s Ambassador to Mexico, Cameron MacKay, says any Canadians planning to travel to Mexico in the coming days and weeks should “read the travel advisory by the Government of Canada.”

“If you just go online and Google, ‘Canadian government travel advisory Mexico,’ the first hit you get will be the government’s best advice... the do’s and don’t do’s if and when in Mexico,” MacKay explained in an interview on CP24.

“It’s important to read the entire document. It’s thorough. It covers Puerto Vallarta, but also the entire country. Much of Mexico is very safe and very pleasant to travel in, and there are parts of Mexico that you should not travel to, and the document is very thorough and detailed about all of that advice.”

MacKay said the government has been “constantly coordinating” with people on the ground in 10 cities across the country, and that they have a “good, ongoing dialogue” with the Mexican government about political issues and security, which they’re passing on to Canadian’s through the travel advisory.

With files from CP24’s Beatrice Vaisman