Mexicana airlines ceases flights after bankruptcy

Some airlines offered preferential deals to Mexican passengers scrambling to find alternatives, but many were baffled by how to get home. The loss of Grupo Mexicana flights eliminated much of the air service to many Mexican cities.

"In the face of the serious deterioration of the company's finances and given the impossibility of reaching agreements to ensure the future viability of the company's operations, we have been forced to temporarily and indefinitely suspend operations," according to a recording played on the company's Mexico City contact number.

The company vowed to seek ways to resume operations at an indefinite time in the future.

Calls to the company's press office went unanswered, and its ticket counters at the Mexico City terminal - its main hub - were empty, except for occasional knots of travelers seeking advice about how to replace flights on Mexicana, Mexicana Click and Mexicana Link.

Erika Lejsek, who heads the complaints department for Mexico's consumer-protection agency, said about 60 or 70 people had approached the agency's booths at the airport to ask for help; Kazinform cites China Daily.