Airports in the country exceed pre-pandemic levels

Guadalajara, Jal. With the exception of Manzanillo, the airports operated and managed by the Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP) will close 2022 with an average growth of 15% in the number of travelers mobilized compared to 2019, so they will not only exceed the pre-pandemic indicators but they will reach historical records in passenger traffic, anticipated its general director, Raúl Revuelta.

“The pandemic is already far behind,” the manager told El Economista, noting that the concessionaire group is executing its “largest investment plan in history”, with 25,000 million pesos destined to increase and improve airport infrastructure. .

Revuelta Musalem said that due to factors such as nearshoring, “a gigantic effect” is expected in the number of travelers to the airports of Tijuana, Occidente and El Bajío (Guadalajara, Aguascalientes and Guanajuato), while the growth of the hotel offer in destinations of beach will also cause an increase in passengers in the air terminals of Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos.

“The Cabo airport will close the year very close to 7 million passengers, it will be its record year; the Puerto Vallarta airport will have about 6.3 million, it will also be a record year; La Paz broke one million passengers, also a record year”, explained the general director of GAP.

He stressed that the largest hotel complex ever built in the history of that destination will open in Puerto Vallarta, with 15,000 rooms, an amusement park and Cirque Du Soleil, and “we are going to arrive with the new terminal at the moment in which they are going to open; if not, it would be impossible to move that number of passengers to move that great tourist center”.

At the Puerto Vallarta airport, the GAP is building a second terminal with an investment of 7,000 million pesos and, according to the group’s projections, it will be operational in the winter of 2024.

According to the general director of the GAP, the Manzanillo airport, in Colima, is the only one that has not yet recovered the levels it had in 2019.

national dynamism

Until August 2022, in Mexico City the influx of air passengers has shown a sustained recovery trend, as it is very close to the levels registered in 2019; the national sector presents greater dynamism.

According to the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur), from January to August the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) registered 15.17 million passengers, a figure 90.4% higher than the same period in 2019 –a year without a pandemic–, as well as a variation of 42% compared to 2021.

This result meant that the tourism aeronautical sector has had a greater recovery trend.

Meanwhile, during 2021, 10.68 million visitors arrived at the capital airport, in 2020 there were 7.19 million and in 2019 there were 16.79 million national and international tourists.

“The period from January to August of this 2022 has shown a discreet but sustained trend towards the recovery of what was registered in 2019, and an example of this is the aeronautical sector, having registered 90% of the influx of passengers to the City of Mexico than that registered in 2019”, the document underlined.

Local Sectur stressed that domestic flights present a greater recovery dynamism compared to international ones. The flow of Mexican passengers reported recovery levels of 95%, since from January-August 2022 there were 10.4 million compatriots, while in the same period of 2019 there were 10.8 million.

The levels of international travelers are around an 80% recovery: 4.7 million tourists until August 2022 against 5.9 million in the first eight months of 2019.

Among the reasons why greater prudence is seen in the intention of international tourists to travel, Sectur pointed out that it is a response to an economic crisis, represented by high inflation and slow growth, as well as the war in Ukraine. -Russia threatening to supply gas to the rest of Europe.

Another of the indicators that presented higher levels of recovery was that of spending by tourists in the capital’s hotels. From January to August of this 2022, the economic income amounted to 67,893 million pesos, which meant that recovery levels are 93% compared to 2019. (With information from Camila Ayala Espinosa)

Operations, on the rise

Cancun, QR. The Cancun International Airport reported a record number of operations in one day last weekend. On Saturday, December 3, it registered 660 departures and arrivals, surpassing the 659 of March 2018, despite the fact that the high season of December has not yet begun.

Of the 660 operations, the majority (437) are international to and from 73 international destinations and 223 domestic to and from 23 national destinations.

During the pandemic, the record for operations in one day was established on December 18, 2021 with 648.

In the first 10 months of the year, the airport handled practically the same volume of passengers that was reported throughout 2019, that is, before the pandemic.

According to Asur’s monthly report, at the end of October the Cancun terminal mobilized 24.8 million passengers, 4.7 million more compared to the first 10 months of 2019, and only 400,000 fewer compared to the 25.2 million it moved throughout the year prior to the pandemic.

The terminal will exceed that last figure of 2019, since since last June the volume of mobilized passengers has increased by more than 2 million per month; June of this year closed with 14.6 million, in July it increased to 17.4 million, in August it climbed to 20.2 million and for September to 22.3 million.

If the trend continues, November will close with 27 million and December would reach 29 million passengers. (With information from Jesús Vázquez)

estados@eleconomista.mx