Martin Placek
Research expert covering transportation and electronics
Air transportation in Mexico - statistics & facts
In January of 1910, the Mexican aviation pioneer, Alberto Braniff Ricard, flew approximately a half kilometer on board a French-manufactured plane. Though the event is disputed in Brazil, many believe this to be the first flight in the history of Latin American aviation. The strife may never fully be resolved, but Braniff’s feat was, in any case, the first time a person managed to start and land an airplane on Mexican soil. More than a century later, Mexico still stands out as one of the most important aviation markets on the west side of the Atlantic.
In 2019, the North American nation was awarded the top place among the best-connected Latin American countries thanks to its domestic and international flight connections, which translated into more than 800,000 take-offs and landings each year before the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2021, 77 airports were operating regular commercial flights in Mexico, among which Mexico City’s Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX) takes the central position.
Mexico’s leading air travel hub
Built on the ground that witnessed Latin America’s first flight, the International Airport of the Mexican capital handled around 50 million air passengers and more than half a million tons of freight in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the airport’s operations, especially in people transportation, harshly reflect the health crisis’s impact on global aviation. Plummeting by more than 50 percent, the total passenger traffic at Mexico City’s International Airport sunk to nearly 22 million air travelers in 2020. In annual operations, this meant a reduction of over 200,000 passenger flights, which account for the largest share of operations at this critical Latin American air travel hub. In 2021, the number of flights served at the Benito Juárez International Airport experienced an increase of around 37 percent, reaching almost 328,000 flights. Despite the recovery, flights at the international airport of the Mexican capital have not yet reached the levels recorded before the pandemic, when the number of operations exceeded 450,000.Major industry players
The Federal Agency for Civil Aviation (AFAC), part of the Ministry of Communications and Transportation of Mexico, is responsible for commercial and non-commercial civil aircraft operations in the country’s territory. The Mexican airport system, however, is operated by five major airport groups: Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares (ASA), Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR), Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de México (GACM), Pacific Airport Group (GAP), and Grupo Aeroportuario Del Centro Norte (OMA). Combined, these five Mexican airport operators surpassed 88 billion pesos in revenue in 2021. As the country’s flag carrier, Aeroméxico has its central hub at the Mexico City International Airport, with secondary hubs at Guadalajara and Monterrey. After steady revenue growth for the the past decade, the airline’s parent company reported a slight decline in revenue in 2019. This was a negative development that was only worsened, although not only for them, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Volaris, the domestic air market leader in Mexico, also reported a significant revenue decline in 2020, falling to 22 billion Mexican pesos. On the other hand, the low-cost carrier registered a twofold increase in its revenue in 2021, sending a strong signal of recovery to the industry.
