OTAY MESA (KGTV) — Soccer fans are flooding Cross-Border Express as the World Cup kicks off Thursday in Mexico.
CBX, which connects travelers from San Diego to the Tijuana airport, has seen a surge in passengers over the past week — and more are on the way.
David Robles is among those heading south on Wednesday before World Cup opening day. He surprised his father, Oscar, with World Cup tickets to see so his dad could attend for the first time in his hometown of Guadalajara.
"I have a ticket to go to see the game, one of those games, and I'm proud of my kids and my wife and thank you," Oscar Robles said.
Other travelers said they found last-minute deals to Mexico City by flying out of Tijuana. One family said their round-trip tickets were $280, flying out on Wednesday.
"Being Mexican and watching the game in Mexico, I'm excited for sure. It's my first World Cup in Mexico," Emanuel Romero said, who was traveling to Mexico City on Wednesday.
Some travelers are making game-time decisions to go to Mexico City. Daniel Schwartz was rushing to the airport after scoring face-value tickets just hours before his flight to Mexico City.
"We bought our plane tickets today. Someone was very, very kind to offer us a face value ticket at the last minute, and they offered it at 10 in the morning, so we're running," David Schwartz said, who also was excited to promote his company's snacks, Chuza, in Mexico.
Juan Carlos Rivas, CBX director of public relations, said CBX has flights to all three cities in Mexico hosting World Cup games. The bridge is expecting heavy traffic over the next two months for the World Cup duration, on top of peak summer travel.
"We're expecting over 1,700 flights to Guadalajara throughout June and July during the World Cup months, about 2,000 flights to Mexico City, and about 500 to Monterrey," Rivas said.
CBX is expecting around 690,000 travelers over the next two months. New technology is also helping cut wait times by reducing the need to see a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent.
"It's called enhanced passenger processing," Rivas said. "Which allows us to scan the passports of the travelers coming from Mexico into California, and then that information goes to CBP, and then they only have to scan their faces once they get to the US side."
CBX is also seeing more travelers coming up from Mexico and heading to Los Angeles.
"On average, it's 40% cheaper to fly into Tijuana and cross the border and drive up to LA than flying directly into LAX from anywhere in Mexico," Rivas said, who added that CBX also provides shuttle services for anyone heading to LA for the World Cup games.
