Not in 2026. Tulum’s international airport (TQO) handled 585,540 passengers from January to August 2026, 33.7% fewer than a year earlier, and its international traffic fell 45%. In August alone, international passengers dropped 76%, from 32,931 to 7,765. Aeroméxico stopped flying to Tulum on September 30, and Volaris will follow on January 7, 2027. And the fall did not start this year: August’s international traffic was 90.5% below August 2024. Of every 100 international passengers who used the Cancún or Tulum airports from January to August 2026, 98 landed in Cancún. We are Villas Ambar, a property manager in Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico, and this is what the 2026 flight numbers mean for an owner who rents out a villa here.
The argument you will hear most often from agencies and developers is that the new airport will fill Tulum. Every page we found on Google about the Tulum airport impact on real estate was written between 2023 and May 2026, before the figures below were published. Here we use the official statistics of Mexico’s civil aviation agency (AFAC) through August 2026, the airlines’ own announcements, and the winter schedule published in September. If you are a traveler deciding which airport to fly into, our guide to Tulum’s closest airport covers drive times and transfer prices. This page is about demand: who can still fly here, and how that affects your bookings.
How Many Passengers Does Tulum Airport Handle in 2026?
From January to August 2026, Tulum airport handled 585,540 passengers, arrivals and departures combined, against 883,308 in the same months of 2025: a 33.7% drop. Domestic traffic fell 19.4%. International traffic, the segment that carries guests from the United States and Canada, fell 45%, from 493,909 to 271,588 passengers.
| Tulum airport (TQO), January–August | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2026 vs 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All passengers | 769,481 | 883,308 | 585,540 | −33.7% |
| Domestic | 386,804 | 389,399 | 313,952 | −19.4% |
| International | 382,677 | 493,909 | 271,588 | −45.0% |
| International operations, August | 634 | 301 | 109 | −63.8% |
| All passengers, full year | 1,237,248 | 1,248,645 | — | — |
The 2024 column is only a partial base: the airport opened in December 2023, and its international traffic only took off in March 2024. The full-year totals hide when the fall began. 2025 closed at 1,248,645 passengers, barely above 2024’s 1,237,248, because a strong first four months masked a drop that started in May 2025: from May to August 2025, international passengers had already fallen to 157,414, against 323,322 in the same months of 2024.
In 2026 the fall deepened. Against 2025, international traffic was down by about a third in the first quarter, by about 60% from May to July, and by 76% in August. Against 2024, the summer months are down by 76% to 90%:
| International passengers at TQO | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2026 vs 2025 | 2026 vs 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | — | 93,786 | 63,697 | −32.1% | — |
| February | 40 | 79,458 | 57,943 | −27.1% | — |
| March | 5,706 | 95,877 | 56,672 | −40.9% | — |
| April | 53,609 | 67,374 | 37,837 | −43.8% | — |
| May | 64,039 | 39,101 | 15,444 | −60.5% | −75.9% |
| June | 88,848 | 42,024 | 15,476 | −63.2% | −82.6% |
| July | 88,511 | 43,358 | 16,754 | −61.4% | −81.1% |
| August | 81,924 | 32,931 | 7,765 | −76.4% | −90.5% |
| May–August | 323,322 | 157,414 | 55,439 | −64.8% | −82.9% |
Behind the passengers are flights. In August 2026 the airport recorded 109 international operations (each takeoff or landing counts as one), against 301 in August 2025. The figures come from AFAC’s monthly operational statistics by airport.
Which Airlines Have Stopped Flying to Tulum?
Seven airlines have left Tulum or announced they will, two of them among Mexico’s largest. Avianca, Copa Airlines, JetBlue, Discover Airlines and Volaris Costa Rica left first. Then Aeroméxico suspended all its Tulum flights from September 30, with no return date: it had flown 7 times a week from Mexico City’s main airport (AICM) and 4 times a week from Felipe Ángeles (AIFA). And Volaris confirmed it will stop flying to Tulum from January 7, 2027.
Aeroméxico gave “market conditions” as its reason. Among the factors reported for Volaris is a 35% increase, from next year, in the non-resident fee charged to foreign visitors. We do not know how much each factor weighs, and neither airline has said. What matters for an owner is the result: from January, the domestic airlines reported still flying to Tulum are Viva and Mexicana, and Mexican travelers from Mexico City and Guadalajara will have fewer direct options than they had this summer.
Where Do Your Villa Guests Actually Land?
In Cancún, for 98 out of 100 international passengers. From January to August 2026, Cancún airport (CUN) handled 13,003,221 international passengers and Tulum 271,588. Tulum’s share of the two airports’ international traffic fell from 3.4% to 2.0% in a year.
| International passengers, January–August | Cancún (CUN) | Tulum (TQO) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 13,843,208 | 493,909 |
| 2026 | 13,003,221 | 271,588 |
| Change, January–August | −6.1% | −45.0% |
| Change, August alone | −14.9% | −76.4% |
| All passengers (domestic and international), change January–August | −5.7% | −33.7% |
| Share of the two airports, 2025 | 96.6% | 3.4% |
| Share of the two airports, 2026 | 98.0% | 2.0% |
Two things follow. First, Cancún is losing international passengers too. It lost about 840,000 of them in eight months, more than three times all the international passengers Tulum handled in the same period. For your occupancy, Cancún’s numbers matter far more than Tulum’s. Second, most of your international guests drive at least an hour and a half after landing. We measured 93 to 100 minutes from Cancún to Tulum and 45 minutes from TQO to La Veleta, without traffic; the routes and transfer prices are in our airport guide. The Tren Maya does not change that: its official timetable shows one train a day from Cancún station to the Tulum Aeropuerto station, leaving at 10:46 and arriving at 12:50, and one back. Neither station is at an air terminal.
Which Cities Will Fly Direct to Tulum This Winter?
Seven seasonal services from five cities, four in Canada plus Newark, with up to 10 flights a week, start between October 25 and December 17, according to the schedule announced by Mexico’s federal tourism ministry in September:
| From | Airline | Flights | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal | Air Transat | Sundays | Oct 25, 2026 – Apr 18, 2027 |
| Montreal | Air Canada | Thursdays | Oct 29, 2026 – Apr 8, 2027 |
| Toronto | Air Canada | Sundays | Oct 25, 2026 – Apr 11, 2027 |
| Toronto | WestJet | Thursdays and Saturdays | Oct 31, 2026 – Apr 24, 2027 |
| Calgary | WestJet | Thursdays and Saturdays | from Oct 29, 2026 |
| Quebec City | Air Transat | Sundays | from Oct 25, 2026 |
| Newark | United | Thursdays and Sundays | Dec 17, 2026 – Jan 24, 2027 |
For US guests the picture is less clear. In early September, Quintana Roo’s tourism office listed Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Miami among the international flights confirmed for the season running from October 25, 2026 to March 27, 2027, but published no frequencies. The federal announcement names Newark as the only US route, for five weeks. Before you tell a US guest they can fly into Tulum, check the airline’s schedule for their dates.
Ten weekly flights is a thin schedule: most of these services run once a week. It does mean, though, that from late October a guest from Montreal, Toronto, Calgary or Quebec City can land 45 to 54 minutes from a villa in Tulum, on fixed days.
What Do the 2026 Airport Numbers Mean for Your Villa Bookings?
Three facts sum it up: 98 of 100 international passengers still land in Cancún, Cancún’s own international traffic fell 14.9% in August, and this winter Tulum’s direct flights come back only in part, mostly from Canada. An owner cannot change the airports. Pricing, the listing and the booking calendar are what you can act on. Market occupancy figures, with their sources and definitions, are in what Tulum villa owners actually earn. Here is what we would do with the numbers above:
- Read Cancún’s numbers, not Tulum’s. Cancún carries 98% of the international traffic. Its international passengers fell 14.9% in August, the fourth month in a row with a double-digit drop since May. That is the signal to watch for the high season. For Tulum’s own hotels, month by month, see what the 2026 occupancy figures mean for owners.
- Publish both drive times in your listing. A guest who books because the villa is “minutes from the airport” and then finds no flight from their city ends up driving from Cancún, and starts the stay disappointed. Write the 45 minutes from TQO and the 93 to 100 minutes from Cancún.
- Plan check-in around Cancún arrivals. A mid-afternoon landing in Cancún means a guest at your gate in the early evening. Check-in, the welcome and the first dinner should be organized for that.
- Use the winter routes where they fit. From late October to April, Canadian guests can fly direct to Tulum on fixed days. When a guest writes from one of those cities, give them the flight days along with the drive time.
- Do not price a purchase on the airport. If you are buying in order to rent, the “airport effect” pages you will read predate the 2026 numbers. Nothing here is investment advice. Our annual costs of a Tulum villa are a better starting point than a passenger forecast.
AFAC publishes each month’s figures about four weeks after the month ends, so September’s numbers will show the first effect of Aeroméxico’s exit at the end of October. We will update this page when they are out. If you own a villa in Tulum and want to know what it would earn under management, with the airports as they are and not as they were promised, tell us about your villa.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will Tulum’s new airport bring more guests to my villa?
Not in 2026, on the official figures. Tulum’s airport handled 585,540 passengers from January to August 2026, 33.7% fewer than a year earlier, and its international traffic fell 45%, to 271,588 passengers. In August, international passengers were down 76%. Aeroméxico left the airport on September 30 and Volaris will leave on January 7, 2027. Seven seasonal services from Canada and Newark, with up to 10 flights a week, start between October 25 and December 17, which helps in winter but does not replace what was lost. Meanwhile, 98 out of 100 international passengers who used the Cancún or Tulum airports in 2026 landed in Cancún. For a villa owner, the airport that drives occupancy is still Cancún, and what an owner can act on is pricing, the listing and how the house is run.
How many passengers did Tulum airport lose in 2026?
Tulum airport lost 297,768 passengers from January to August 2026 compared with the same months of 2025, according to the monthly statistics of AFAC, Mexico’s civil aviation agency. Traffic fell from 883,308 to 585,540 passengers, a 33.7% drop. International traffic fell 45%, from 493,909 to 271,588 passengers, and domestic traffic fell 19.4%, from 389,399 to 313,952. It did not start in 2026: from May to August 2025, international traffic had already fallen to 157,414 passengers, from 323,322 a year earlier. The decline then sped up: international passengers were down 32.1% in January, about 60% from May to July, and 76.4% in August, when they fell from 32,931 to 7,765. International operations went from 301 in August 2025 to 109 in August 2026. The airport, which opened in December 2023, closed 2025 at 1,248,645 passengers, barely more than in 2024. These figures count arrivals and departures together. Cancún, by comparison, lost 5.7% of its passengers over the same eight months.
Which airlines have stopped flying to Tulum?
Seven have left or announced they will. Avianca, Copa Airlines, JetBlue, Discover Airlines and Volaris Costa Rica dropped their Tulum routes first. Aeroméxico suspended all its Tulum flights on September 30, 2026, with no return date; it had flown 7 times a week from Mexico City’s AICM and 4 times a week from AIFA. Volaris has confirmed it will stop flying to Tulum from January 7, 2027. Aeroméxico cited market conditions; among the factors reported for Volaris is a 35% increase, from next year, in the non-resident fee paid by foreign visitors. Airlines still serving Tulum include Viva and Mexicana on domestic routes. For the winter of 2026-2027, Air Canada, Air Transat, WestJet and United announced seasonal flights from Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Quebec City and Newark. Check each airline’s schedule for your dates, because routes have changed quickly this year.
Should my villa listing mention Tulum airport or Cancún airport?
Both, with honest drive times. Cancún handled 98% of the international passengers who used the two airports from January to August 2026, so most of your guests will land there and drive 93 to 100 minutes to Tulum, without traffic. Tulum’s airport is about 45 minutes from La Veleta and a little more from Aldea Zamá or the beach road. It is 21 km away in a straight line but 41 km by road, which is why the 20-minute transfer you sometimes read about is wrong. Present Tulum airport as an option for the guests who have a direct flight, such as Canadian guests from late October to April, and not as the default. A guest who books on a short airport transfer and then has to fly into Cancún is a guest who starts the stay disappointed, and that can show up in reviews.
Written by the Villas Ambar team in Tulum. Passenger and flight figures come from the monthly operational statistics of the Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil (AFAC) for January to August 2026; airline exits and winter routes from the airlines’ announcements as reported by the Mexican press between September 3 and October 1, 2026; drive times from our own measurements of September 11, 2026, without traffic; train times from the official Tren Maya timetable. Airline schedules change: check them for your dates. Nothing here is investment advice. If you own a villa in Tulum and want to know what it could earn under management, our commission and the full list of what it covers are on our property management page.
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