Early operations

Cancun's initial airport was established in 1942 as a strategic move to support the region's primary industry at the time: the chewing gum industry. This early airport operated on a rudimentary runway, featuring a control tower constructed from wood and reeds, which remained in operation until 1973. To commemorate its history, a replica stands near the city's entrance, close to its original location.^[4]

In the early 1970s, Cancun emerged as a major tourist destination following a deliberate effort by the Mexican government, in collaboration with the National Tourism Development Fund (Spanish: Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo FONATUR). Recognizing its strategic location, near pristine beaches, natural landscapes, and archaeological sites, the comprehensive plan aimed to transform Cancun from a sparsely inhabited area into a world-class tourist hub. Substantial investments in infrastructure were made, including the construction of the new Cancun International Airport, executed by Henro y Asociados in collaboration with the Department of Infrastructure. The airport's inaugural commercial flight occurred on May 12, 1975, drawing swift attention from international tourists.

Throughout its history, Cancun Airport has hosted a variety of airlines. It served as a hub for Mexicana, Interjet, and Aladia in their operational years, facilitating connections for both domestic and international flights. Additionally, the defunct charter airline Aerocancun, based in Cancun, provided flights to U.S., Canadian, European, and South American destinations. MAYAir, established in 1994 initially as a charter airline, expanded its routes from Cancun to various destinations in the Yucatan Peninsula.

Privatization and expansion

In 1995, Mexico embarked on a significant airport privatization initiative through the 'Ley de Aeropuertos' (Airports Law) introduced by the Department of Infrastructure. This marked a pivotal moment for Cancun Airport, integrating it into the Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste ASUR.

Until the early 2000s, Cancun Airport operated with two terminals. A major transformation began in 2005 when ASUR invested US$150 million in constructing Terminal 3, officially inaugurated in 2007.^[5] Key additions, including a new runway and Latin America's tallest control tower at 97 meters, were unveiled in October 2009, effectively doubling the airport's passenger handling capacity.^[6] On November 27, 2013, Cancun Airport achieved another milestone, becoming the first in Mexico to welcome the Airbus A380, commemorating the 80th anniversary of Air France and the 15th anniversary of ASUR.

The expansion continued with Terminal 2 in 2014, and a significant 76,000 square metres (820,000 sq ft) expansion of Terminal 3 in 2016, introducing six gates and additional commercial areas.^[7] This expansion aimed at accommodating the growing annual capacity, increasing it to 10 million from the previous 6 million. Responding to overcrowding and surging demand, Terminal 4 was inaugurated in October 2017.

Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mexican authorities maintained open borders for tourism, positioning Cancun as one of the select international destinations to welcome visitors.

Terminal 1 (only charter)

Exclusively dedicated to charter or private flights, Terminal 1 features 7 gates numbered 1 to 7, 3 helicopter stands, and a VIP lounge, offering comprehensive services for private air travel. Temporarily closed for reconstruction after Hurricane Wilma, the terminal resumed operations exclusively for charter flights upon reopening in November 2013.

Terminal 2

As the oldest terminal, Terminal 2 accommodates both arrival and departure services for domestic and international flights. With 22 gates—A1 through A11 (in a satellite building) and B12 through B22 (at the main building)—it serves most domestic airlines, along with all international flights to Central and South America and select long-haul flights to Europe. The check-in area houses a bank and food outlets, while the boarding area features several restaurants and shops, along with immigration/customs services. Two lounges, the MERA Business Lounge and The Lounge by Global Lounge Network cater to domestic and international travellers.

The primary tenants at the terminal are Viva Aerobus, which operates a hub at this location, and Magnicharters and Volaris, operating a focus city services along with Volaris Costa Rica and Volaris El Salvador. Other airlines serving Terminal 1 include Aerolíneas Argentinas, Alaska Airlines, Arajet, Avianca, Avianca Costa Rica, Avianca Ecuador, Avianca El Salvador, Conviasa, Copa Airlines, LATAM Brasil, LATAM Chile, LATAM Perú, LOT Polish Airlines, Neos, Sky Airline Peru, Sunwing Airlines, TAG Airlines, TUI Airways, TUI fly Netherlands, TUI fly Belgium, and Wingo.

Terminal 3

Dedicated exclusively to international flights, Terminal 3 features 21 gates (C4 through C24). Primarily utilized by major US carriers, along with select Canadian and European carriers, the terminal provides amenities such as shops, including duty-free options, cafés, restaurants, as well as immigration and customs facilities. Terminal 3 is home to the MERA Business Lounge. The ground transportation facility is situated outside the arrivals hall.

The airlines flying to Terminal 3 are Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, Air Caraïbes, American Airlines, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Iberojet, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines, Wamos Air, and World2fly.

Terminal 4

Terminal 4 serves both domestic and international flights. It opened in October 2017, making Cancún Airport the first airport in Mexico to have four terminals. It features 14 gates equipped with jetbridges and is able to handle 9 million passengers a year.^[9] An on-site hotel is also planned to be opened, as well as a parking structure. Three lounges serve Terminal 4. They are the MERA Business Lounge (national), MERA Business Lounge (international), and The Lounge in Partnership with Air Transat.^[10]

At Terminal 4, ADO bus tickets are available for a price approximately five times higher than the standard rate. It is advisable to either purchase the ticket online or consider walking to Terminal 1 or Terminal 2 to potentially save around 400 Mexican pesos (M$110) or 25 US dollars (USD 25) as of 2023. The bus stop is located past the ground transportation facility.

The airlines flying to Terminal 4 are Aeroméxico, Air Europa, Air France, Air Transat, Austrian Airlines, Condor, Discover Airlines, Edelweiss Air, Flair Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, Southwest Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines, and WestJet.

FBO terminal

The FBO terminal caters to general aviation from Mexico, the United States, and Latin America. Positioned to the south of the passenger terminal complex, near the main airport entrance, it offers an array of services including ground support, fuel coordination, ground transportation, car rental, catering, and airport lounges. Additionally, the FBO accommodates commercial services from the Belizean airline Tropic Air.

Inter-terminal transportation

Terminal-to-terminal transportation is facilitated by an inter-terminal shuttle, with buses departing from each terminal every 10 minutes.

Passenger

Notes

^1 TUI fly Belgium's flight from Brussels to Cancún makes a stop in Havana; however, the airline does not have traffic rights from Havana to Cancún.

^2 Turkish Airlines's flight from Istanbul to Cancún makes a stop in Mexico City; however, the airline does not have local traffic rights from Mexico City to Cancún.

Cargo

Destination maps

Cancún Mexico City Mexico City/AIFA Acapulco Aguascalientes Chetumal Cozumel Chihuahua Ciudad Juárez Guadalajara Hermosillo León/Del Bajío Mérida Monterrey Morelia Oaxaca Puebla Querétaro Reynosa San Luis Potosí Tampico Tijuana Toluca Torreón Tuxtla Gutiérrez Veracruz Villahermosa Nuevo Laredo Domestic destinations from Cancún International Airport Red = Year-round destination Blue = Future destination Green = Seasonal destination Grey = Charter destination

Toronto-Pearson Vancouver Québec City Calgary Edmonton Montréal–Trudeau Winnipeg Halifax Ottawa Hamilton (ON) London (ON) Moncton Windsor Kitchener/Waterloo Fredericton Kelowna Regina Saskatoon St. John's Victoria Bagotville Thunder Bay Canadian destinations from Cancún International Airport Red = Year-round destination Blue = Future destination Green = Seasonal destination

Austin Charlotte Chicago–O'Hare Dallas/Fort Worth Los Angeles Miami New York–JFK Philadelphia Phoenix–Sky Harbor Portland (OR) San Diego San Francisco Seattle/Tacoma Boston Cincinnati Columbus-Glenn Indianapolis Kansas City Nashville Raleigh/Durham St. Louis Atlanta Detroit Minneapolis–St. Paul Salt Lake City Baltimore Cleveland Denver Orlando Houston–Intercontinental Tampa Fort Lauderdale Newark Hartford Las Vegas Chicago–Midway Houston–Hobby New Orleans San Antonio Milwaukee Pittsburgh Atlantic City Harlingen Washington–Dulles Memphis US destinations from Cancún International Airport Red = Year-round destination Blue = Future destination Green = Seasonal destination Grey = Charter destination

Cancún Camagüey San Juan Havana Holguín Santa Clara San Salvador San José (CR) Santo Domingo Panama City–Tocumen Guatemala City Belize City Central American and Caribbean destinations from Cancún International Airport Red = Year-round destination Blue = Future destination Green = Seasonal destination

Buenos Aires-Ezeiza Bogotá Medellín-JMC Caracas São Paulo-Guarulhos Santiago de Chile Lima South American destinations from Cancún International Airport Red = Year-round destination Blue = Future destination Green = Seasonal destination

Vienna Paris-Orly Madrid Paris-de Gaulle London-Gatwick Frankfurt Zurich Barcelona Lisbon Amsterdam Milan-Malpensa Rome-Fiumicino Verona Birmingham Manchester Bristol Dublin Edinburgh Glasgow Newcastle Brussels Istanbul Katowice Poznań Warsaw Copenhagen Gothenburg Helsinki Stockholm Oslo European destinations from Cancún International Airport Red = Year-round destination Blue = Future destination Green = Seasonal destination Grey = Charter destination

Passengers

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Cancún Airport passengers. See Wikidata query.

More information Year, Total passengers ...

Passenger statistics^[1]

Year	Total passengers	% change
1999	6,969,733	–
2000	7,745,317	11.1%
2001	7,639,021	1.4%
2002	7,717,144	1.0%
2003	8,683,950	12.5%
2004	10,010,526	15.3%
2005	9,301,240	7.1%
2006	9,728,149	4.6%
2007	11,340,027	16.6%
2008	12,646,451	11.5%
2009	11,174,908	11.6%
2010	12,439,266	11.3%
2011	13,022,481	4.7%
2012	14,463,435	11.1%
2013	15,962,162	10.4%
2014	17,455,353	9.4%
2015	19,596,485	12.3%
2016	21,415,795	9.3%
2017	23,601,509	10.2%
2018	25,202,016	6.8%
2019	25,481,989	1.1%
2020	12,259,148	51.89%
2021	22,318,467	82.1%
2022	30,342,961	36.0%
2023	32,750,411	7.9%

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Busiest routes

More information Rank, City ...

Busiest domestic routes from Cancún International Airport (2023)^[20]

Rank	City	Passengers	YoY % change	Ranking	Airlines
1	Mexico City, Mexico City	2,209,042	10.16%		Aeroméxico, Aeroméxico Connect, Magnicharters, Viva Aerobus, Volaris
2	Nuevo León, Monterrey	929,327	9.84%		Magnicharters, Viva Aerobus, Volaris
3	Jalisco, Guadalajara	558,871	5.82%		Magnicharters, Viva Aerobus, Volaris
4	State of Mexico, Mexico City – AIFA	356,765	193.26%	3	Aeroméxico, Viva Aerobus, Volaris
5	Baja California, Tijuana	307,857	24.78%	1	Viva Aerobus, Volaris
6	State of Mexico, Toluca	223,511	170.25%	7	Viva Aerobus, Volaris
7	Guanajuato, León/El Bajío	215,882	32.44%	2	Magnicharters, Viva Aerobus, Volaris
8	Puebla, Puebla	173,349	11.27%	2	Magnicharters, Viva Aerobus, Volaris
9	Querétaro, Querétaro	157,745	39.56%		Magnicharters, Viva Aerobus, Volaris
10	Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez	145,445	17.24%		Viva Aerobus,
11	Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez	122,374	35.24%		Viva Aerobus
12	Veracruz, Veracruz	116,235	3.28%	1	Viva Aerobus
13	Chihuahua, Chihuahua	106,877	24.36%	1	Magni, Viva Aerobus, Volaris
14	Baja California, Mexicali	53,873	0.79%	2	Volaris
15	San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí	52,928	11.68%	1	Volaris
16	Tabasco, Villahermosa	48,357	21.04%	2	Viva Aerobus
17	Oaxaca, Oaxaca	42,002	40.02%	2	Volaris
18	Tamaulipas, Reynosa	41,305	2.95%	1	Viva Aerobus
19	Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes	39,724	27.65%	4	Volaris
20	Michoacán, Morelia	25,640	26.30%	1	Volaris

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More information Rank, City ...

Busiest international routes from Cancún International Airport (2023)^[20]

Rank	City	Passengers	YoY % change	Ranking	Airlines
1	United States, Dallas/Fort Worth	579,645	4.69%		American Airlines, Spirit, Sun Country
2	United States, Houston (Intercontinental and Hobby)[lower-alpha 1]	567,815	1.04%		Frontier, Southwest, Spirit, Sun Country, United Airlines
3	United States, Chicago (O'Hare and Midway)[lower-alpha 2]	502,908	1.15%		American Airlines, Frontier, Southwest, Spirit, United Airlines
4	United States, Atlanta	441,838	16.26%		Delta Air Lines, Frontier
5	Canada, Toronto-Pearson	392,149	43.70%	5	Air Canada, Air Transat, Canada Jetlines, Flair Air, Sunwing Airlines, WestJet
6	United States, New York-JFK	358,698	4.74%		American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue
7	Panama, Panama City–Tocumen	331,109	6.86%	2	Copa Airlines
8	United States, Denver	319,065	0.51%		Frontier, Southwest, United Airlines
9	United States, Los Angeles	315,782	11.37%		Alaska, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, United Airlines
10	United States, Miami	282,558	12.26%	1	American Airlines
11	Colombia, Bogotá	246,351	1.44%	1	Avianca, Viva Aerobus, Volaris, Wingo
12	United States, Newark	241,310	3.58%	1	Jet Blue, United Airlines
13	United States, Charlotte	238,623	8.31%	1	American Airlines
14	Peru, Lima	235,127	30.82%	4	LATAM Perú, Sky Airlines Perú, Volaris
15	United States, Philadelphia	230,757	9.91%		American Airlines, Frontier, Spirit
16	United States, Fort Lauderdale	225,282	6.76%	4	JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit
17	Canada, Montréal-Trudeau	215,471	57.21%	7	Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, Air Transat, Flair Air, Sunwing Airlines
18	United States, Baltimore	204,421	21.27%	2	Frontier, Southwest, Spirit
19	United States, Orlando	193,548	1.58%	2	Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit
20	United States, Minneapolis/St. Paul	192,681	7.67%	1	Delta, Frontier, Sun Country

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Notes

Local shuttles

Each terminal features extensive ground transportation facilities with numbered boarding platforms and nearby snack stands. These facilities are serviced by various companies offering transportation to and from hotels, many of which allow online pre-booking. Passengers with pre-booked shuttle services who have difficulty finding their assigned driver are advised to contact customer service directly.

Local bus

Buses operate between downtown Cancún and the Playa del Carmen bus station. ADO provides services to Cancun. Buses depart every 10 minutes from 8:00 to approximately 23:30. For the journey to Playa del Carmen, buses operate every 20-30 minutes. Playa del Carmen buses drop off passengers at the crossroads for Puerto Morelos, where taxis are readily available.

Long-distance bus

ADO, the primary long-distance bus carrier in southeastern Mexico, serves various destinations, including Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulúm, and Mérida (with stops at Altabrisa station and Paseo 60 station). Additionally, ADO provides transportation to Cozumel (via Bus + Ferry) and Chiquila (via Bus + Ferry).

ADO buses make stops at all ground transportation terminals and travel directly to the ADO Bus stations in the specified towns, without making stops at hotels or along the route. Coaches accommodate 44 passengers, featuring air conditioning and high-definition entertainment screens. Tickets for ADO buses can be pre-purchased through the official ADO website.

Train

Cancun International Airport is across Federal Highway 180 from Cancún Airport railway station, the largest station on the recently established Tren Maya, a 1,500 km intercity rail network. Located on the opposite side of the runway from the main terminal buildings, this station is equipped with nine platforms. Commencing December 16, 2023, the station will facilitate departures along both the west route, connecting to destinations such as Chichén Itzá railway station, Teya Mérida railway station, and San Francisco de Campeche railway station, and the south route, serving Tulum railway station, Tulum International Airport, and Chetumal Airport. Trains are scheduled to operate at least every 2 hours along these routes.

The Cancún Airport-Tren Maya Station Connection is a shuttle bus connection that will connect the 4 terminals of the airport with the railway station.^[21] The connection is through 7 electric buses, which operate a 4 km route at a speed of 69 km/h. Each of them has a maximum capacity of 47 passengers.^[22]