VivaAerobus announced today that it will add two new flights per week between Austin, Texas and Puerto Vallarta on January 15, 2009, according to a report in today’s El Financiero. 

The Puerto Vallarta route will be the third direct Mexico flight that the airline operates out of Austin, adding to its existing Austin-Monterrey and Austin-Cancun routes. 

Last month, the airline also started offering ground transportation service for VivaAerobus customers to and from Houston and San Antonio and its Austin airport hub for US$20 each way.  The CEO and President of VivaAerobus, Mike Szucs, who was interviewed in the report, said that approximately half of the airline’s passengers in May flying from Austin came from Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio.

VivaAerobus is the only airline that offers direct flights from Austin, Texas to destinations in Mexico.  Aeromexico, which once operated an Austin-Mexico City route, cancelled the route early this year.