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It is looking like travelers might be able to fly into Tulum’s International Airport sooner than thought.
The general director of airline ViVaAerobus, Juan Carlos Zuazua, has announced that they will be the first airline to operate from the brand new Felipe Carrillo Puerto Airport (also known as Tulum Airport).
This exciting news also comes with the information that VivaAerobus has communicated with the federal government that the terminal will be ready to begin operations commencing in April 2024.
You Could Be Flying Directly To Tulum From The U.S.
It might turn out that you could be flying from of your more local and domestic airports, as the airline has already confirmed that it will initially operate its domestic routes. However, they’re also negotiating to partner with its Northern American partner ‘Allegiant Air’.
If they are successful, the partnership would then allow them to connect the smaller and medium-sized cities in the United States to the Mexican Caribbean.
Their goal is to connect both the new airport in Tulum and also to reinforce Cancun. Last year, Cancun accounted for 5 million ViVaAerobus passengers, which is 25% of all the volume of travelers reported by ViVaAerobus.
This would also mean that if the low-cost airline of ViVaAerobus flies to Tulum; it’ll be the only airline with flights to all four international airports in Quintana Roo: Cancun, Chetumal, Cozumel, and soon-to-be Tulum.
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What Does This Mean For Tourism In The Area?
Tulum’s popularity is ever-growing, and with the arrival of the upcoming Maya Train and airport, it is looking like 2024 will see travelers and tourists flocking directly to the southern part of Quintana Roo, thus taking some weight off of Cancun’s busy international hub.
It’s without a doubt that this airport will boost tourism, not just for Tulum itself, but for nearby towns and cities such as Bacalar and Mahahual, and the larger city of Chetumal, which is near the Belize border – and also some of the lesser-known towns and attractions will start to see more footfall as well.
Despite nearby Chetumal already having an airport in its own right, North American passengers generally have to connect via Mexico City to fly into the southern part of the Mexican state – however, it is now known that the ViVaAerobus director is pushing for flights between Tulum and U.S. states.
This will drastically offload the weight of passengers arriving in Cancun, and there is also scope for plenty of other international destinations eventually as the airport grows.
Work In Progress
The terminal is currently undergoing an environmental evaluation; despite the fact it has yet to be authorized, various works are actually already underway, such as clearing the jungle in the area.
Effectively, the land of the Tulum Airport is ready to go. However, The Secretary of Territorial and Urban Development in Quintana Roo (Sedatur), Ernesto Gutiérrez Pavón, has stated that they currently lack resources to build it.
However, as we have already seen with the upcoming Maya Train, developments are moving fast in Quintana Roo – particularly as tourism is booming, and the demand is significantly rising in the area.
The construction of the airport is going to require the disposal of at least 1.3 million trees, as well as 43 environmental impacts (38 of them adverse and 5 beneficial).
It is said that there will be disturbances to the fauna as well, due to the noise pollution and the contamination and destruction of the habitat, according to the Environmental Impact Statement of the project.
The airport will also have a military base, combining a total area of 12,000 square kilometers, which is around 1,200 hectares of land; additionally, an access road will take up around 3.2119 square kilometers, around 321 hectares, in the jungle area.
In total, it equates to around 1.521 hectares of the Chunyaxché ejido land in the municipality of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, the unofficial Mayan zone, in the central part of the Quintana Roo state.
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