Private Jet to Mexico

Mexico's civil aviation authority, AFAC (the agency formerly known as DGAC), requires foreign private and charter aircraft to hold an internment authorization before entering the country. The single-entry version covers one visit — enter, fly your itinerary, depart. The multi-entry version covers unlimited visits for the calendar year and is what serious Mexico operators put on their aircraft, because it removes per-trip permit lead time from the equation.

The application runs on documents the operator already holds: airworthiness and registration certificates, insurance valid in Mexico (a Mexican liability policy or endorsement is required — US coverage alone doesn't satisfy it), and crew licenses. Allow 48–72 hours of lead time for a first-time single-entry authorization; a multi-entry aircraft can often launch same-day.

One structural note for charter passengers: within Mexico, cabotage rules prohibit a US-registered charter from flying you between two Mexican points as a revenue leg. Cabo to Cancún on the same N-registered charter aircraft is not a legal sale; itineraries with internal Mexico legs need a Mexican carrier for those segments or a routing that touches the US. Good operators flag this at the quoting stage, not the week of the trip.

Mexico runs its own advance passenger information system, separate from the US one, and it has teeth — filing errors and late submissions draw real fines, assessed per passenger. Your operator's dispatch or its Mexican handler transmits the Mexican APIS manifest before the inbound flight and again before departure from Mexico.

The US side mirrors it: eAPIS to CBP before the southbound departure and again before the northbound leg, at least 60 minutes prior by regulation. On arrival in Mexico you'll clear immigration at the FBO, where each passenger completes the tourist entry permit — many handlers pre-arrange it so the stop is a signature, not a queue. Keep the stamped portion; you surrender it on departure.

San José del Cabo (MMSD) is the highest-volume private gateway in the country, serving the entire Los Cabos corridor. It handles everything up to ultra-long-range aircraft with dedicated FBO terminals, and in peak weeks its ramp looks like a jet sales convention — parking reservations matter around holidays. Cancún (MMUN) plays the same role for the Riviera Maya and Tulum, with a general aviation terminal that keeps you clear of one of the busiest commercial airports in Latin America.

Puerto Vallarta (MMPR) covers the Pacific coast including Punta Mita's resort peninsula. For Mexico City, private traffic strongly prefers Toluca (MMTO) — about an hour from the capital's core but dramatically easier than the congested main airport. Querétaro (MMQT) is the usual door to San Miguel de Allende.

The core routes are short. Los Angeles or Van Nuys to Cabo runs about 2.5 hours; Dallas Love Field to Cabo about 3; Houston Hobby to Mexico City about 2; Teterboro to Cancún about 3.5. A super-midsize like the Challenger 350 covers any of them nonstop with the range to bring the trip home against winter headwinds.

Pricing tracks domestic charter of similar distance — light jets $3,000–$5,000 per hour, midsize $4,500–$7,500, super-mids $5,500–$8,500 — plus international costs: Mexican handling, permits, and fees typically add $1,500–$3,000 per direction. Peak demand lands exactly when you'd guess: Thanksgiving, Christmas through New Year, Presidents' Day week, and spring break, when both aircraft availability and Cabo ramp space tighten.

The same holiday tides that squeeze availability also generate one-way repositioning flights, so empty legs between US cities and Mexican resorts are unusually common — a Cabo–Los Angeles return at a steep discount is one of the most frequently listed deals in the market.

Northbound, your first US landing must be where CBP can clear the flight — an airport of entry, or a landing-rights airport with prior permission arranged. Popular clearance points align with the route map: San Diego and Scottsdale off the Baja routes, Houston Hobby and Dallas Love for Texas, with eAPIS filed before takeoff and an arrival notice on file so officers meet the aircraft.

Clearance at a general aviation facility usually takes 15–30 minutes. The standard $800 per-person duty-free allowance applies; declare everything and keep receipts. Agricultural products are the trap — fruits, pork products, and certain plants bought at a resort market will be confiscated, and undeclared items can escalate to fines. The aircraft itself must display its current CBP decal.

From there, the machinery is invisible: bags to the car, and you're on the road minutes after shutdown. When you're ready to price a trip, request quotes from operators with recent Mexico experience and compare their international fee lines side by side — that's where quotes for identical aircraft genuinely differ. For a Bahamas comparison point, see flying private to the Bahamas.