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Mexican Governor Aims to Boost Ties With D-FW: Airline Service to Zacatecas, Trade Are on This Weekend's Agenda

Posted on: Saturday, 14 January 2006, 15:00 CST

By Dianne Solis, The Dallas Morning News

Jan. 14--The governor of Mexico's state of Zacatecas will visit the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Sunday as part of a trip designed to boost commercial ties.

Gov. Amalia Garcia's agenda includes the re-establishment of direct airline service between Dallas-Fort Worth and the capital city of Zacatecas.

Officials are concerned about the recent cancellation of flights from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Zacatecas by AeroMexico and Mexicana.

Friday afternoon, Secretary of Tourism Miguel Alonso Reyes confirmed a "cordial meeting" with officials from American Airlines Inc.'s regional carrier, American Eagle.

"We really want this route restarted, and American Eagle could be the carrier," Mr. Alonso said. "We are just in the proposal stage, though."

American, which has expanded into several smaller Mexican markets with American Eagle, said it's looking for new opportunities in Mexico but isn't close to saying which cities or areas might be next.

"We're are always looking for cities where new service might be a good fit," said spokeswoman Tami McLallen.

The carrier has no immediate plans for Zacatecas, she said.

Gov. Garcia will open the Mexican celebration at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Sunday.

There, she will meet with Fort Worth leaders including billionaire investor Edward Bass and Sebastian Martinez, head of an association of Zacatecas immigrants.

Commerce continues to grow between Texas and both Mexico and Zacatecas.

Mexico's Central Bank is expected to confirm later this month that Mexican immigrants sent a record amount of dollars back to the homeland: about $20 billion.

Zacatecas pioneered a program -- called Tres por Uno â€"that funnels three government dollars for every migrant dollar contributed to targeted state projects.

Staff writer Eric Torbenson contributed to this report.

E-mail dsolis@dallasnews.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Dallas Morning News

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Mexico:CINTRA, NYSE:AMR,

Source: The Dallas Morning News

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