International Traffic Falls 30 Percent at Tulum Airport as Mexicana Adds Summer Flights

Tulum airport has lost more than 30 percent of its international traffic in 2026 and now offers just four foreign routes, even as state officials insist the decline reflects a passing global trend.

The contraction lands at the worst possible moment for a municipality already living through layoffs, business closures, and falling hotel occupancy. With the summer vacation season about to begin, local operators cannot afford an airport that keeps shedding flights, which is why a newly signed agreement with Mexicana de Aviación has become the centerpiece of Tulum's recovery bet.

Traffic down 30 percent and routes cut from 12 to four

The Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport opened in December 2023 under then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and is managed by the Defense Ministry through GAFSACOMM. Two and a half years later, its numbers point in one direction. According to data compiled by the outlet Reportur, international air traffic has fallen by more than 30 percent during 2026, and the terminal has dropped from 12 routes abroad to only four.

Airlines have pointed to the high cost of jet fuel as the main obstacle to expanding operations. That single pressure, repeated across the sector, has frozen the route growth that Tulum was counting on when the airport was built.

Cueto blames a global slump while Punta Cana keeps growing

Bernardo Cueto, Quintana Roo's Secretary of Tourism, rejected the idea that the terminal is in crisis. He argued that the slowdown is not exclusive to the state and is also felt in other destinations across Mexico, the Caribbean, and the United States, where carriers have chosen to protect the routes they already fly rather than open new markets.

Airlines have told us that the current economic climate does not allow them to increase routes; right now they are focused on keeping the ones they already operate, Cueto said.

He expressed confidence that the lost routes could return by the end of the year once the global economic picture improves, and noted that the state is working with the federal government and with GAFSACOMM to revive incentives aimed at airlines. Cueto also stressed that Tulum remains the second best-connected airport in Quintana Roo, behind only Cancún.

The official's explanation runs into an inconvenient comparison. Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic, has kept its international connectivity intact through the same period, which undercuts the argument that the drop is a purely regional or global inevitability rather than a problem specific to Tulum.

Eight Mexicana flights aim to rescue the summer at Tulum airport

While the government plays down the numbers, the private sector has moved. The Tulum Trust for Tourism Promotion and Economic Development signed a collaboration agreement with Mexicana de Aviación to open eight new flights into Felipe Carrillo Puerto during the summer vacation season. The deal is backed by more than 75 companies from the hotel, restaurant, and tourism services sectors, and it includes travel packages at preferential rates.

Mario Cruz, the trust's president, said the confirmed Mexicana frequencies will operate on July 18, 22, 23, and 25, and on August 1, 8, 15, and 19. He described the plan as the result of two months of joint work with hoteliers, restaurateurs, tour operators, recreational parks, guides, and travel agencies, and acknowledged that the municipality is passing through a hard stretch marked by lost jobs and shuttered businesses. Beyond the added seats, the airline will run national digital promotion and advertising campaigns to position Tulum as a vacation destination.

A domestic pivot toward Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Querétaro

The trust wants to widen the strategy. Cruz said the same collaboration scheme will be presented to Viva and Volaris to expand offerings from Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, and Querétaro, redirecting attention toward domestic travelers while the international map stays thin.

Part of that groundwork is already underway. Recently, 47 agencies affiliated with the Mexican Association of Travel Agencies visited Tulum to see its tourism offerings firsthand and join the marketing push. "Today it is not enough to recognize the problems; it is time to act in unity to revive Tulum's economy," Cruz said.

Jet fuel prices hold the key to any rebound

For now, two readings of the same airport sit side by side. The state frames the decline as a temporary effect of global conditions and expects a rebound late in the year. The business community treats it as an emergency that demands action before the summer, and has tied its hopes to eight Mexicana flights and a pending pitch to two more airlines.

The unresolved variable is the one airlines keep naming. Until the price of jet fuel eases or the promised incentives materialize, Tulum's connectivity rests on domestic frequencies and a summer campaign, not on the international routes the airport was designed to carry.

Do you think eight summer flights and a domestic strategy can pull Tulum airport out of its slump, or does the loss of international routes point to a deeper problem? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.