After setting new passenger-related records on several occasions throughout the back end of last year and welcoming several new flight routes already this year, it’s now official – Cancun International Airport is the fastest-growing airport in the world.
The wildly popular airport, which is conveniently located around 30 minutes from Cancun’s famous hotel zone, put the rest of the competition to shame according to recently released data by the leading aviation data and analytics website Cirium, and it looks as though it will continue to go from strength to strength for months to come.
Despite struggling with passenger volumes at times throughout the past few months, Cancun’s airport has coped admirably with the demands it has been placed under, boding well for the future quarters of growth that have been predicted.
Here’s everything you need to know about how Cancun International Airport earned the title of being the world’s fastest-growing airport, including how it happened, what the figures say, and how it stacks up when compared to other airports around the world.
Cancun Airport Fastest Growing – Information For Travelers
If you’re one of the millions of travelers who were lucky enough to fly in or out of Cancun International Airport over the past three months, we’re sure that you’ll be aware of just how busy it has been. As 2022 reached its climax in December, the airport went through a cycle of beating and re-setting its own records for passenger numbers week after week, as travelers around the world couldn’t get enough of Cancun as a vacation destination – and frankly, who can blame them?
Recent data gathered by Cirium’s Diio Mi™ technology has confirmed the airport’s status as the world’s fastest-growing airport, with interest in visiting Cancun yet to cease as we approach the end of this year’s first financial quarter – and it isn’t even close. Diio Mi™, which “covers more than 97% of all worldwide airline scheduled flights going back 20 years and looking forward 11 months,” showed that when it came to the matter of which airport was growing the fastest, Cancun was way out in front in a league of its own.
The data looked at which airports were scheduled to have the most seats in Q2 of this year, the period which starts on April 1st and ends of June 30th. According to Cirium, a staggering 4,871,207 seats are scheduled for Cancun in this period (accurate as of February 6th). Not only is this a significant number of seats, but it also represents significant growth of 37% compared to the same period in 2019, highlighting why Cancun has earned the title as the world’s fastest-growing airport.
Sometimes things can get backed up, like in the TikTok below, but Cancun’s new electronic immigration system has helped some of the congestion.
Other airports are set to have more seats scheduled for Q2 – including Miami, Las Vegas, Newark, Denver, and Dubai, to name a few – but while these airports show good levels of growth, they are still a significant way off from Cancun’s growth levels. Cancun’s growth of 37% since Q2 2019 is considerably higher than the growth of its closest competitor, Miami, which grew 23% over the same time period.
Cancun’s resurgence began in the wake of Covid-19, with Mexico proving to be one of the first destinations to drop all of its entry requirements. Yet rather than plateauing as other countries got in on the restriction-free travel boom, its popularity grew further, establishing itself as the hottest destination on the planet last year and continuing its success into the early months of 2023.
The sheer wealth of flight options to the city – coupled with its almost unrivaled natural settings and high-quality resort options – make Cancun a winning destination for all kinds of travelers. While the prevalence of sargassum in the coming months may have some impact on the total number of travelers visiting, the diversity of the region’s attractions is sure to keep attracting visitors in their millions over the course of the year.