Cancun to Lead International Air Tourism in Mexico in 2023

Of the 34.9 million seats on international flights to Mexico in 2023, Cancun accounted for 12.6 million, or 36.1%. This makes it the most important airport in terms of international passenger flow throughout the country.

In second place is the airport of the country’s capital, AICM, with 9.8 million seats, that is, 28.3%; followed by Guadalajara with 3 million (8.8%); Puerto Vallarta with 2.2 million (6.6%) and Monterrey with 1.2 million (3.6%).

The volume of international tourists traveling to and from Cancun also leaves the Mexican Caribbean with 5 of the 10 routes with the most scheduled seats in 2023. These are Dallas-Cancun in 1st place in the ranking, Toronto-Cancun in 3rd place, Atlanta-Cancun, Houston-Cancun and Chicago O’hare-Cancun in 8th, 9th and 10th place respectively, according to figures from the Federal Ministry of Tourism.

In addition, 7 million airline seats are planned for the Mexican Caribbean between December 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, not including the new flights from Tulum Airport.

This figure means that during the winter season, there will be a total of 36,000 flights between landings and take-offs to the three international airports of Quintana Roo, according to data from the Tourism Promotion Council.

Added to this are the figures from the Migration Policy Office report, according to which the main countries in terms of international tourist arrivals by air to Mexico from January to October 2023 are the United States, Canada and Colombia, with 13,460,000 tourists.

The American market reached 11.02 million tourists, of which 4.6 million, or 41.8%, arrived in Cancun, while Canadian tourism, the second most important for Mexico, reached 1.8 million tourists nationwide in the first 10 months of the year, of which 1 million arrived via Cancun or 55.5%.