Qatar Airways held discussions with Mexico about the possibility of a new route, months before the FIFA 2022 World Cup kick-off. 

Preliminary talks between the Mexican government and Qatar Airways have taken place to potentially establish a new route to Mexico City ahead of the much-awaited World Cup, the airline said on Friday.

The North American country has a massive football fanbase, with a huge portion looking to fly to Doha in November to attend the grand tournament after Mexico’s qualifications.

The massive purchase of tickets has pushed both sides to signal interest in allowing the Gulf airline to fly to a new Mexico City airport. This would allow easier, and much faster, trips for all fans who managed to get their hands on World Cup tickets to cheer for Mexico this year.

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Another follow-up meeting is expected to take place next week, according to Reuters, after the Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard revealed that Qatar Airways had shown interest in landing at the airport by the end of the year.

“Qatar Airways confirms it held early informal discussions about flights to Mexico City with the Mexican government and both parties will remain in close contact on the matter,” a Qatar Airways spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.

This comes only weeks after the national carrier said it did not have any plans to fly from the newly-opened Felipe Angeles International Airport, but that stance seemed to have changed recently following further discussions.

The time or further information about the discussions is yet to be announced by Qatar Airways.

The country’s national team has officially qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after beating El Salvador in their final qualifier. Their first game will be against Lionel Messi’s Argentina for a chance to qualify for the next round.

So far, 800,000 tickets have already been sold for the global tournament, with the next phase of ticket sales underway.

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