Cancún Airport Loses 720,000 Passengers in First Half of 2026
Data from Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR) show a 4.7% drop in traffic at the Cancún terminal between January and June, the third-largest decline among the tourist airports the company operates in Mexico.
Cancún International Airport handled 14,757,599 passengers between January and June 2026, according to the monthly traffic report from Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR), the company that operates the terminal under federal concession. The figure marks a 4.7% drop from the same period in 2025, equal to 720,000 fewer passengers.
The breakdown
Per ASUR's data, international traffic — made up mostly of travelers from the United States and Canada — totaled 10,245,822 passengers, down 3.9% from the first half of 2025 (418,000 fewer travelers). The domestic market posted the sharper decline: 4,511,777 passengers, 6.4% below the prior year, meaning 306,000 fewer national travelers.
Cancún versus other beach destinations
The decline places Cancún among the airports with the steepest first-half drop in the network ASUR operates across Mexico. Over the same period, Puerto Vallarta recorded an 18.2% decrease and Los Cabos a 5.8% decrease, both also run by the company. For Cancún, the downward trend now spans three consecutive years, based on the monthly reports ASUR has made public since 2024.
What it means for Cancún
The airport is the main gateway for tourism arriving in Quintana Roo, so a sustained drop in its traffic directly affects hotel occupancy and the workload of taxi drivers, car-rental agencies, tour guides and other tourism-service providers who depend on flight volume. On the other hand, fewer passengers can mean, in the short term, shorter lines at immigration and customs checkpoints for anyone currently flying through the terminal.
ASUR does not attribute specific causes in its traffic report, which is limited to operational figures. Tourism-industry analysts have pointed to several factors weighing on the regional slowdown, including recurring sargassum on Mexican Caribbean beaches, perceptions of insecurity in some destinations, competition from other international markets, and slower growth in some of the economies visitors travel from.
Where to check the official data
ASUR's monthly passenger-traffic reports are public and are released each month on the company's investor-relations website (asur.com.mx). Travelers looking for real-time flight status can check Cancún International Airport's official site.
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