Over 9 Million Passengers Flew To Mexico In January
Viva Mexico #VivaMexico
Mexico’s civil aviation industry began the year strong, receiving 9.93 million passengers, a 32% increase compared to January 2022. Last year, the North American country broke all records for air traffic by having over 107 million travelers. Can the nation maintain this level of growth?
Strong performance
January was led by Volaris, Aeromexico, and Viva Aerobus in Mexico. According to data published recently by the country’s civil aviation agency, the ultra-low-cost carrier Volaris had 2.58 million passengers in the first month of the year. That was a small decrease compared to the 2.65 million passengers carried in December 2022. However, it can be explained on the basis that January is the beginning of the low season in Mexico. Additionally, compared to January 2022, Volaris had a 24% increase in traffic numbers.
Grupo Aeromexico, the country’s flag carrier, received 1.94 million passengers, of which more than 600,000 were international. Aeromexico remains the top Mexican carrier in the international segment. In February, the airline may have a drop in the number of carried passengers after facing some cancellations due to a scheduling dispute between management and Aeromexico’s pilots.
Finally, Viva Aerobus remained Mexico’s third-largest carrier. The ultra-low-cost airline had 1.65 million passengers in January 2023, of which 1.47 million were domestic, and 178,447 were international.
In its last full month of operations, now defunct Aeromar carried 23,595 passengers, just a fraction of what the airline had in January 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Aeromar ceased operations on February 15 after a prolonged crisis, putting an end to its 36 years of history.
Now Mexico has six airlines, including three small regional carriers, Aéreo Calafia, Magnicharters, and Transportes Aéreos Regionales. The startup Aerus could take the place of Aeromar later this year when it launches operations with a Cessna-powered fleet and, in the future, with the first electric Alice aircraft to enter into operation in Mexico.
International carriers
Mexico had 4.95 million international passengers in January. The Mexican carriers offering international service –Aeromar, Aeromexico, Viva Aerobus, and Volaris– reported 1.26 million international travelers, with the remaining coming from non-Mexican operators.
US carriers had 2.40 million passengers, led by American Airlines, which, on itself, had more international travelers than any Mexican carrier, with 698,497. United Airlines had 481,240 travelers, and Delta Air Lines had 427,859. Other non-US airlines were WestJet (210,211 passengers), Copa Airlines (115,176), Air France (52,881), and Iberia (50,917).
What about the airports?
Mexico City International Airport remained the main hub in the country in January 2023. The airport received 3.99 million passengers, a 23.1% increase compared to January 2022. Cancun International –one of the fastest growing hubs in the world– received 2.89 million passengers, an incredible 32.2% increase versus last year.
The controversial Felipe Ángeles International Airport received 181,984 passengers in January, with an average of 58 flights and 5,870.5 passengers daily. This airport has become Mexico’s tenth-largest by passenger numbers in less than a year since opening up.
What do you think about Mexico’s January results? Let us know in the comments below.