Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) had a summer of slight recovery in passengers, with 9% more users in July compared to the previous month. The main driver of the rise was Cancún, a destination that only Volaris operated and that, as of mid-July, is also served by Viva Aerobus.
With the entry of a new operator, passengers to Cancun increased by 74% compared to June and accumulated 13,871 users. With this, the beach destination has become the most attractive route in AIFA, concentrating 40% of airport users during July.
However, not all routes were as lucky as Cancun. In the case of Tijuana, the second largest AIFA destination, passengers fell 8% compared to the previous month, and in the case of Monterrey – the third largest city in terms of volume – the downward adjustment was 29%.
The data indicates that vacation destinations have been the most attractive from the airport in Santa Lucía. This was the case of Mérida, whose traffic grew by 30% in July, unlike Monterrey, which fell in practically the same proportion.
Route adjustments
Although the new airport aimed to have a summer of more flights, the airlines made some adjustments to their itineraries.
This was the case of Viva Aerobus, which on July 12 announced the postponement of its new routes from the AIFA to Puerto Escondido, Acapulco and Oaxaca, initially projected to start in July and which will now begin operations in September. Similarly, the airline indefinitely postponed its AIFA flights to Havana, which also originally started in July.
Aeroméxico canceled the AIFA flights to Villahermosa and indefinitely postponed the opening of its route to Cancún, scheduled for mid-August. With this, it was left with six routes, four of these new: Acapulco, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Oaxaca.
For Volaris, the next few months will see several inaugurations, since between July and September it will open new flights to Acapulco, Guadalajara, Huatulco, La Paz, Mérida, Mexicali, Oaxaca, Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Escondido and Los Cabos, which will be added to Cancún and Tijuana, its two initial routes. The airline’s expectation is to close the year with a traffic of 150,000 passengers in the AIFA.
