Analyzing The New Airport’s Top Airlines In 1st Year Of Operations

Tulum International Airport (TQO) – officially called Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport – is closing in on one year of operations since opening its doors on December 1st, 2023. Representing a brand-new gateway to the Mexican Caribbean region, TQO acts as a supplementary airport to the busier Cancun International Airport (CUN) located around 100km north.

Earlier this month, the airport celebrated its one-millionth passenger arrival and expects to end the year with up to 1.3 million passengers served. This is almost double the airport’s initial estimate of around 700,000, a figure it had exceeded by August.

Photo: George Wirt | Shutterstock

According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, airlines operating at Tulum International offered almost 1.5 million seats and 8,700 flights during the airport’s first year. This winter, there will be a total of 15 airlines operating flights to Tulum from 20 destinations both domestic and international.

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Less than a year since inaugurating operations, the airport already hosts nine airlines with
regular service.

The vast majority of flights at the airport are either domestic or heading to/from the United States. However, the airport has a growing number of flights from Canadian carriers (WestJet launched two new winter routes from Calgary and Toronto this week), and will also welcome its first direct European route next month. Let’s analyze the first year of operations at Tulum International and who the biggest airlines were.

Viva Aerobus on top

Five routes and over half a million seats

The largest airline at Tulum International by a considerable distance is the Mexican low-cost carrier Viva Aerobus
, which operated almost double the number of seats of the next largest, American Airlines, in the past year. The carrier currently flies to Tulum from four Mexican airports and previously operated from the country’s busiest airport, Mexico City International (MEX).

Photo: Guillermo Quiroz Martínez | @gquimar

In total, Viva Aerobus flew over 500,000 seats across 2,468 flights during its first year at the airport. The airline is also the largest serving the Mexican state of Quintana Roo with a presence at all four of its international airports – Cancun, Chetumal, Cozumel and Tulum.

American Airlines

Direct flights from Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth and Miami

In second is American Airlines
with over 283,000 seats to and from Tulum within the last year. The US giant was the first international carrier to serve Tulum, inaugurating the airport’s first-ever international flight with a service from Dallas/Fort Worth in March.

Photo: Markus Mainka l Shutterstock

AA flies to Tulum from three US-based airports – Charlotte (CLT), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Miami (MIA). Its busiest connection is with its DFW hub, operating a total of 792 flights and 136,224 seats going both ways with its Boeing 737 fleet.

Capacity from Charlotte and Miami was almost identical, with both routes offering over 73,000 seats both ways. While both were primarily served by AA’s 737 fleet, they also saw some sporadic service by its Airbus A320s.

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Up To 64 Daily Flights: American Airlines Serves 27 Mexican Airports From Dallas/Fort Worth

The carrier’s Mexican offering from Dallas/Fort Worth has grown strongly recently.

United Airlines

Five US routes starting next month

United Airlines
operates four routes to Tulum from Chicago (ORD), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX) and Newark Liberty (EWR), amounting to over 258,000 seats and 1,446 flights both ways. United’s Houston route is the busiest with almost 600 flights each way and over 105,000 seats, while Los Angeles is a seasonal route.

Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock

The carrier is also launching a fifth route this winter with a four-times-weekly service from Denver (DEN) due to start next month. Tulum will become United’s fifth Mexico destination out of Denver, joining Cancun, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta, and San Jose del Cabo.

Aeromexico

Double-daily from Mexico City

Mexico’s national carrier, Aeromexico
, had the fourth-largest presence at the airport, flying over 136,000 seats across 1,366 flights from Mexico City’s two airports, MEX and NLU. The airline started off with a single route from MEX at the airport’s opening, but switched over to Mexico City’s secondary airport, NLU, in the summer. It currently operates a double-daily between NLU and Tulum.

Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

The Mexican carrier uses its Embraer E190 jets on this double-daily route under its Aeromexico Connect regional brand. These jets can seat up to 99 passengers, with 11 in business and 88 in economy.

Delta Air Lines

Daily 737-800 flight from Atlanta

Delta Air Lines
currently has just one direct connection to Tulum from its Atlanta (ATL) hub. The carrier launched this route in March and flies a daily roundtrip with its Boeing 737-800 fleet.

Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

It will soon launch its second and third routes to Tulum with the addition of Minneapolis (MSP) and Detroit (DTW). Minneapolis flights are due to begin next month, while its new weekly Detroit service is scheduled for January 11th. This flight will operate every Saturday and will also be served by Delta’s 737-800s. Delta and Aeromexico customers can also benefit from the two airlines’ Joint Cooperation Agreement (JCA).