It’s still named Tucson International Airport but the people running it were surprised when the last remaining regularly scheduled international flight - a four days-a-week round-trip to Hermosillo, Sonora - ended this month.

Now, airport, tourism and economic development officials say they’re going to look to establish incentives that would attract air service into Mexico, maybe not Hermosillo, but other destinations they say are more important and will produce more passengers.

With no official advance notice, as of Oct. 2 Aeroméxico Connect eliminated its only flights from Tucson. Technically, Aeroméxico officials called their decision a "suspension of service." The airline was scheduled to fly the route one final time Saturday (Oct. 11).

Dick Gruentzel, vice president of administration and finance for the Tucson Airport Authority (TAA), and Felipe Garcia, vice president of Mexico marketing for the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau, are among those who’ve been working for more than a year on projects to expand Tucson’s air service into Mexico.

Both said they were surprised by Aeroméxico’s decision saying that as recently as July, airline officials had assured them in face-to-face meetings the airline was happy with the passenger traffic on the route between Tucson and Hermosillo. It was at that time Aeroméxico Connect finished upgrading the service to using 50-passenger regional jets seven days a week as the final phase-out of smaller propjets.

The daily service dropped to four days a week in late August but was realigned at that time to offer direct flights on to Guadalajara.

Attempts to reach Frank Galan, U.S. vice president for Aeroméxico, were unsuccessful but the elimination of Tucson service appears to be part of larger cuts the airline has made at Hermosillo. Garcia, who said the airline has downgraded other flights from the Sonoran state capital, switching from full-sized Boeing jetliners to regional jets on routes to both Guadalajara and Monterrey.

When TAA officials asked Aeroméxico Connect about their decision, Gruentzel said the airline told them operating costs had risen to the point they would need a subsidy to continue. Although Gruentzel wouldn’t say what the subsidy request was, another official said it was just under $500,000 a year.

Regardless, Gruentzel said airports in the United States are prevented from giving outright subsidies to airlines. Privatized airports in Mexico can give subsidies, according to Garcia.

But both Gruentzel and Garcia say there are more important destinations in Mexico than flights to Hermosillo - namely Guaymas and Guadalajara.

Research done earlier this year by the University of Arizona’s Global Advantage collaboration found that Guaymas would be a strong destination from a business standpoint because the Offshore Group, based in Tucson, has manufacturing plants there and in nearby Empalme used by more than 30 U.S., Canadian and European firms, employing more than 11,000 people. Despite the fact the Guaymas airport has international status and runways capable of handling full-sized jetliners, it has only one daily flight to the U.S., a 37-passenger US Airways turboprop from Phoenix.

Guadalajara is important because economic development groups in both cities this summer launched a joint development and marketing effort.

One promising sign, ALMA de Mexico - ALMA is short for Aerolíneas Mesoamericanas -is a regional jet airline based in Guadalajara that on Aug. 26 received permission to fly into the United States. It is starting service between Guadlajara and San Antonio and between Culiacán and Las Vegas.

"We’ll use this as a call to action," Garcia said.

Tucson needs to be among the airports across the Southwest U.S. that are aggressively seeking to land airline service, Garcia said. While U.S. cannot offer outright subsidies, others are offering reimbursements and marketing assistance to carriers offering new airline service.

In New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson is actively involved with efforts to land international flights at Albuquerque’s airport, which lost its only Mexico flights early this year.

"These are difficult financial times but we need to make the investments that will grow our economy," Garcia said.

Tucson has had scheduled international airline flights since 1961 when Aeronaves de Mexico, forerunner of Aeroméxico, started service.

Contact reporter David Hatfield at dhatfield@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4237.