Authorities from Mexico will travel to the United States this weekend for talks on regaining its Category 1 air safety status. On Tuesday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said high-level officials from Mexico will be sent to try and regain the status that Mexico lost last year.

In May 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced the downgrade of Mexico’s rating to a Category 2, which prevents national airlines from adding new flights to the United States. The downgrade also limits airlines’ ability to seal commercial agreements.

“Precisely this weekend, the person in charge of the Ministry of Communications, the Undersecretary and the person in charge of Aviation are going to travel to Washington because there is a meeting they have in the United States to try to regain the higher category,” AMLO explained.

The Mexican government has said that it hopes to recover the status in the shortest possible time . As of June, aviation authorities of both countries had met seven times to discuss the issue.