On January 12, a record number of daily Covid-19 infections was recorded in Mexico, exceeding 44,000 confirmed cases, in addition to flight cancellations due to staff infections in the first days of 2022
On January 6, the passenger traffic report of airport groups and national airlines at the end of December 2021 was released.
A sequential lag was observed in international traffic (compared to last November), derived from the fear caused among vacationers by the new variant of Covid-19 (Ómicron), despite the deployment of vaccination campaigns since December is the last month of the winter holiday season, one of the most important in the airport industry.
Domestic traffic showed a recovery, associated with the “December holidays”, which directly favored “pleasure flights and family visits”.
On the part of metropolitan flights, we would expect a possible recovery in mid-2022, but that will depend on the evolution of Covid-19 in our country, since, in the scenario in which new waves of infections occur, face-to-face corporate meetings they would continue to be postponed until the number of infected people is minimal or zero.
It is important to mention that the annual variations presented below are with respect to 2019, however, it would be the last reading compared to that year, since the 2021 figures presented less volatility and would become comparable figures for this year’s reading. .
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ticker code: ASUR) exhibited an annual increase of 5.2% in passenger traffic as a result of the advances in the airports of Mexico and Colombia, despite the drop in Puerto Rico.
Cancun showed an annual increase in total passenger traffic, caused by the advance of the international and national segment, however, we would expect that during the first half of 2022 there will be less growth in national traffic as a result of the rebound in infections.
On the other hand, we note that the San Juan airport showed a drop in total passenger traffic as a result of a sequential slowdown in international traffic. Colombia showed a sequential recovery in most of its airports, as a result of the positive performance of domestic traffic.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP) showed a decrease of 0.2% per year caused by a drop in international traffic, but with an increase in domestic traffic.
The recovery in pleasure flights and family visits boosted domestic traffic, which was observed in the positive variations by Tijuana and Los Cabos, despite the fact that the Guadalajara airport reduced the dynamism of total traffic as it was the busiest airport. important part of the airport group.
On the other hand, international traffic reflected a sequential decrease at the end of December derived from the decrease in the influx of people from Canada and the United States due to a possible fear generated by the new Omicrón variant, creating a slight panic among vacationers from these regions.
The North Center Airport Group (OMA) presented a decrease of 7.5% per year due to the decline in national traffic, recalling that this item represents approximately 90% of the total, so this drop was caused by decreases in passenger traffic at the airports of Monterrey, Culiacán and Chihuahua.
Regarding the airlines, Volaris showed an annual increase of 31.4% as a result of the positive variations of national and international traffic.
On the other hand, Aeroméxico presented an annual drop of 1.1% as a result of a decline in the international category.
On January 12, a record number of daily Covid-19 infections was recorded nationwide, exceeding 44,000 new confirmed cases, ratifying the fourth wave of infections in our country, in addition to the various cancellations of flights due to contagion of personnel during the first days of 2022.
Therefore, we would expect a decrease in the flow of people at national airports, which would reduce the dynamism of the total passenger traffic reading for the first months of this year.