Cancun (CUN) is the second busiest airport in Mexico and the leading airport in international passenger traffic. 2021 was a year of significant recovery, and the aerodrome transported a total of 22,318,467 passengers, accounting for recovery of 87.58% compared to 2019. By 2022, the terminal is expected to equal or exceed pre-pandemic levels.
Mexico was one of the few countries that did not close its borders, allowing international tourist arrivals during the course of 2021. Unlike other Asia-Pacific regions where they maintained strong restrictions, this motivated several travelers to change their vacations from places such as Thailand and Indonesia to the beaches of the Aztec country.
PAX_CANCUN2021Cancun (CUN) is the main airport of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, where all the airports it manages in Mexico reported average monthly growth of more than 5% during the last four months of 2021.
Cancun Airport passenger traffic
| MES | Tráfico de Pasajeros a nivel doméstico 2021 | Tráfico de Pasajeros a nivel doméstico 2019 | Tasa de crecimiento entre 2019 y 2021 | Tráfico de Pasajeros a nivel internacional 2021 | Tráfico de Pasajeros a nivel internacional 2019 | Tasa de crecimiento entre 2019 y 2021 | Tráfico de Pasajeros totales 2021 | Tráfico de Pasajeros totales 2019 | Tasa de crecimiento entre 2019 y 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enero | 557,813 | 674,760 | -14.5% | 711,729 | 1,513,106 | -53% | 1,289,542 | 2,187,866 | -41.1% |
| Febrero | 475,677 | 562,037 | -15.4% | 549,582 | 1,463,274 | -62.4% | 1,025,259 | 2,025,311 | -49.4% |
| Marzo | 692,686 | 662,386 | +4.6 | 877,579 | 1,783,841 | -49.2% | 1,570,265 | 2,466,227 | -36.3% |
| Abril | 714,687 | 745,015 | -4.1% | 924,952 | 1,507,701 | -38.7% | 1,639,639 | 2,252,716 | -27.2% |
| Mayo | 797,780 | 792,854 | +0.6% | 1,095,433 | 1,327,014 | -17.5% | 1,893,213 | 2,119,868 | -10.7% |
| Junio | 799,084 | 781,998 | +2.2% | 1,291,026 | 1,400,407 | -4.9% | 2,090,110 | 2,182,405 | -4.2% |
| Julio | 931,989 | 914,987 | +1.9% | 1,441,679 | 1,484,897 | -2.9% | 2,373,668 | 2,399,884 | -1.1% |
| Agosto | 824,710 | 867,640 | -4.9% | 1,237,207 | 1,301,415 | -4.9% | 2,061,917 | 2,169,055 | -4.9% |
| Septiembre | 727,985 | 701,857 | +3.7% | 933,081 | 889,419 | +4.9% | 1,661,066 | 1,591,276 | +4.4% |
| Octubre | 839,056 | 758,707 | +10.6 | 1,141,366 | 1,011,657 | +12.8% | 1,980,422 | 1,770,364 | +11.9% |
| Noviembre | 829,239 | 747,872 | +10.9% | 1,399,489 | 1,293,394 | +8.2% | 2,228,728 | 2,041,266 | +9.2% |
| Diciembre | 870,648 | 770,284 | +13% | 1,633,990 | 1,525,467 | +7.1% | 2,504,638 | 2.295,751 | 9.1% |
| TOTAL | 9,081,354 | 8,980,397 | +1.1% | 13,237,113 | 16,501,467 | -19.8% | 22,318,467 | 25,481,989 | -12.4% |
Cancun (CUN) experienced positive growth in the domestic market: the airport mobilized 9,081,354 passengers, increasing by 1.12% compared to 2019. Most of the domestic operators raised the offering of seats to Quintana Roo’s main aerodrome: for example, Aeromexico expanded its operations with Boeing 787 aircraft. In light of international health restrictions, many travelers opted to fly to domestic destinations for their vacations.
Main domestic routes from Cancun Airport
Registries from January through November 2021
| Posición | Destino | Pasajeros | Trasa de crecimiento entre 2019 y 2021 | Operaciones aéreas | Trasa de crecimiento entre 2019 y 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ciudad de México (MEX) | 4,096,206 | -10.4% | 24,637 | -18.7% |
| 2 | Monterrey (MTY) | 1,337,513 | +3.3% | 8,987 | -9.4% |
| 3 | Guadalajara (GDL) | 955,593 | +18.2% | 6,429 | +25.7% |
| 4 | León, Guanajuato (BJX) | 297,569 | +1.4% | 1,776 | -9.6% |
| 5 | Puebla (PBC) | 200,588 | -7% | 1,483 | +0.8% |
Regarding international passenger traffic, Cancun mobilized 13,237,113 passengers, which represents a recovery of 80.22% with respect to 2019. The market with the greatest recovery was the United States and several destinations exceeded pre-pandemic capacity levels. Some major markets such as the United Kingdom, Canada and some South American nations did not experience growth, due to the strong restrictions imposed by those countries.
Main routes to Canada from Cancun Airport
Registries from January through November 2021
| Posición | Destino | Pasajeros | Tasa de crecimiento entre 2019 y 2021 | Operaciones aéreas | Tasa de crecimiento entre 2019 y 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toronto, Ontario | 76,744 | -89.3% | 506 | -86.9% |
| 2 | Montreal, Quebec | 43,535 | -90.2% | 277 | -88.2% |
| 3 | Calgary, Alberta | 41,509 | -80.6% | 264 | -80.5% |
| 4 | Vancouver, British Columbia | 13,735 | -92.1% | 100 | -91.6% |
Throughout 2019, Cancun (CUN) was the third busiest international destination in the United States, with 8,860,453 passengers. In 2021, most domestic and international airlines massively increased their services to Mexico: in the case of American Airlines, from its main hubs it carried out operations with widebody aircraft, expanding its seating capacity, in addition to launching new destinations.
Cancun_GraficosUna tendencia constante durante el año pasado fue el lanzamiento de múltiples rutas point-to-point a varios destinos en Estados Unidos tanto por operadores tradicionales como Low Cost. La mayoría de rutas superaron el tráfico de pasajeros con respecto a niveles prepandémicos.
Main routes to the U.S. from Cancun Airport
Registries from January through November 2021
| Posición | Destino | Pasajeros | Tasa de Crecimiento entre 2019 - 2021 | Operaciones aéreas | Tasa de Crecimiento entre 2019 - 2021 | Carga (Toneladas) | Tasa de Crecimiento entre 2019 - 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas (DFW) | 948,455 | +21.9% | 6,105 | +32.6% | 672.8 | -21,7% |
| 2 | Houston, Texas (HOU & IAH) | 846,039 | +7.6% | 6,379 | +19.7 | 48.6 | -42,6% |
| 3 | Chicago, Illinois (MDW & ORD) | 709,714 | +3.1% | 4,926 | +19.8 | 225.2 | -60% |
| 4 | Denver, Colorado (DEN) | 552,727 | +64,4% | 4,052 | +64,4% | 33.3 | +851,4% |
| 5 | Atlanta, Georgia (ATL) | 532,332 | -18,6% | 3,714 | -11.4% | 479.5 | +601% |
| 6 | Nueva York (JFK) | 528,227 | -12.5% | 3,666 | -4.9% | 1,773.0 | +60.5% |
| 7 | Miami, Florida (MIA) | 511,218 | +4.3% | 3,992 | +13% | 4,535.6 | -28% |
| 8 | Los Ángeles, California (LAX) | 477,377 | +15.1% | 3,563 | +32.2% | 118.3 | -14.1% |
| 9 | Newark, Nueva Jersey (EWR) | 443,019 | +48.5% | 3,245 | +75.1 | 396.7 | +36.7% |
| 10 | Charlotte, Carolina del Norte (CLT) | 354,233 | +5.4% | 2,364 | +1.2% | 206.7 | +428.6% |
Within Central and Latin America, the market with the highest growth was Panama – Tocumen (PTY); the destination almost recovered its capacity to 2019 levels. In Costa Rica, the operation of Avianca Costa Rica returned and Volaris Costa Rica increased its frequencies.
In Colombia, the arrival of new low-cost operators such as Volaris, Viva Aerobus, and VIVA Colombia, in addition to new routes from Avianca and Wingo stimulated passenger demand in addition to the connection with three cities including Medellin (MDE), Cali (CLO) and Bogota (BOG).
The Venezuelan market to Cancun (CUN) considerably increased due to the fact that the Venezuelan authorities added Mexico to the list of authorized nations with regular flights to that country. Currently, the only regular operator is Conviasa, but airlines such as Turpial Airlines, Avior, and Lasér among others offered charter flights.
Operations in Peru, Chile, and Argentina were adversely affected by sanitary restrictions imposed by their authorities: as a consequence, passenger traffic was lower than in 2020 during the pandemic crisis.
Brazil in 2021 was a new market for Cancun, LATAM Brazil and Aeromexico inaugurated seasonal flights from Sao Paulo (GRU), due to restrictions from other countries to the South American giant, many Brazilian travelers opted to vacation in Mexico.
Main Central and South American routes from Cancun Airport
Registries from January through November 2021
| Posición | Destino | Pasajeros | Trasa de crecimiento entre 2019 y 2021 | Operaciones aéreas | Trasa de crecimiento entre 2019 y 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Panamá - Tocumen (PTY) | 595,825 | -1.5% | 4,519 | +0.02% |
| 2 | Bogotá, Colombia (BOG) | 189,031 | -48.5% | 1,418 | -46.9% |
| 3 | Lima, Perú (LIM) | 111,182 | -71.9% | 882 | -68% |
| 4 | San José, Costa Rica (SJO) | 97,589 | -38% | 810 | -34.3% |
| 5 | Medellín, Colombia (MDE) | 70,633 | +17.5% | 534 | +11% |
Within the long-haul sector, Europe saw the strongest recovery: airline groups such as Air France – KLM increased their operations from Paris (CDG) and launched a new route from Amsterdam (AMS). International Airlines Group (IAG) experienced no growth rate due to restrictions in the United Kingdom; British Airways suspended its operations to Cancun (CUN), although its long-haul Low-Cost subsidiary LEVEL launched a new flight from Barcelona (BCN).
Lufthansa Group recorded drastic growth exceeding 2019 levels, the route to Frankfurt (FRA) was increased to daily flights and the operation was transferred to the new subsidiary Eurowings Discover. Edelweiss increased frequencies from Zurich (ZRH), Austrian resumed operations from Vienna (VIE) and a launch from Munich (MUC) is expected in 2022.
Cancun also experienced the return and arrival of new operators with scheduled flights such as TAP Air Portugal from Lisbon (LIS), World2fly from Madrid (MAD), Aeroflot from Moscow (SVO), and charter operations of airlines such as LOT Polish from Warsaw (WAW) and Katowice (KTW), Ukraine International Airlines from Kiev – Boryapil (KBP) and TUI Airways from several Scandinavian cities.
Main European routes from Cancun Airport
Registries from January through November 2021
| Posición | Destino | Operaciones aéreas | Tasa de cremiento ente 2019 y 2021 | Pasajeros | Tasa de cremiento ente 2019 y 2021 | Carga (Toneladas) | Tasa de cremiento ente 2019 y 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fráncfort, Alemania (MAD) | 684 | +147.8 | 156,750 | +117.8% | 3,585.8 | +238.3% |
| 2 | Madrid, España (MAD) | 412 | -52.9% | 142,006 | -54% | 1,296.9 | -48.4% |
| 3 | Paris, Francia (CDG) | 362 | +194.3% | 101,445 | +207.3% | 2,166.9 | Sin movimientos de mercancías y correo registrados en 2019 |
| 4 | Moscú, Rusia (VKO, DME & SVO) | 154 | -12% | 63,303 | -14.8% | Sin movimientos de mercancías y correo | Sin movimientos de mercancías y correo |
| 5 | Lisboa, Portugal (LIS) | 206 | Nueva ruta | 57,758 | Nueva ruta | 797.1 | Nueva ruta |
Data were obtained from the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transportation (SCT), Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste S.A.B., and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
