Cancun Has Mostly Eliminated Major Traffic Delays To The Airport

Last Updated 2 years ago

The end of a vacation is a hard time enough without having to worry about delays on the way to the airport. That was the case for hundreds of travelers a few weeks ago who ended up abandoning their rides and making a sprint for the airport after reported traffic delays of up to 5 hours. Thankfully, it appears as though most major delays on the highway to the Cancun airport have been resolved for now. While there are no longer 5 hour delays, expect the usual heavy high season Cancun traffic and give yourself at least 2.5 hours transportation time to the airport.

Our CEO of The Cancun Sun, Kashlee Kucheran, recently did the drive to the Cancun airport from Tulum and found that any problems that were occurring on the highways have now been swiftly resolved, with the 120km journey proving to be a breeze – and the subsequent airport check-in and security checks also proving to be a walk in the park.

“We actually didn’t experience any noticeable delays on the drive. Being right after the New Year, I was expecting massive delays but ended up the airport 5 hours hours early instead,” Kucheran reported.

“The security lines and check in lines were minimal, they had tons of staff and you can tell they were prepared.”

Here’s a look at what travelers need to know about traveling to the airport, and why it’s still advisable to make sure you leave early just to be safe. 

Highway Horror Stories – What Travelers Should Know

As vacations wind down toward their inevitable end, thoughts turn from getting the best tan you can muster to planning a trip to the airport for that sad flight home. Yet regardless of how well travelers plan, some things, such as traffic often can’t be avoided.

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@texiejune it took us 4 hours to go 3 miles 🙃🙃 #cancunmexico #cancun #cancunairport ♬ Funny Song – Cavendish Music

More recently, the local authorities’ decision to modernize their roads left travelers with massive delays as planned improvements to the city’s highways affecting some 10,000 travelers in the run-up to Christmas, causing several flights to be delayed and many travelers facing the worst-case scenario of missing their flights completely. With the road works coming as a record number of flights were seen at the airport, it was always going to be a recipe for a disaster – but thankfully the situation is now under control. 

Delays Eliminated

According to the President of the municipality of Benito Juárez, Ana Peralta, cooperation between federal, state, and municipal authorities have “managed to normalize fluid vehicular traffic on Blvd Colosio, which allowed the arrival and departure of tourists from the Cancun International Airport without setbacks.”

The solution will see improvement work continue on the highways, but with alternative routes to the airport provided to improve the flow of traffic. This should put an end to the scenes seen throughout TikTok and Twitter of travelers abandoning taxis and heading to their airport on foot.

Such improvements have already been felt by our CEO, Kashlee Kucheran, on her recent trip to Cancun International Airport from the seaside town of Tulum. Despite the evidence of construction and road closures on the way, the drive to the airport was seamless, completing the 120km journey in just over 90 minutes – a feat that is bound to ease the worries of travelers contemplating similar routes in the upcoming weeks. Along with no traffic to be reported along the way, Kashlee’s experience in the airport itself was also a positive one. 

Kashlee reported that, despite the airport being busier than ever in recent weeks, the journey from airport front doors to the gate was seamless, with check-in completed quickly security a breeze, and virtually nothing in the way of hold-ups. Cancun has been working hard to make the arrivals process streamlined and easy, but it’s refreshing to hear that the departure process is just as quick too.

Yet despite Cancun seemingly having gotten its act together with regard to airport traffic, it’s worth leaving nothing to chance. Travelers should always prepare for the worst, with leaving to the airport an extra hour or so before you’d normally consider it the best way to guard against another flare-up of congestion or issues. It’s important to remember the old adage that it’s better to be hours early than a minute late – especially when there are expensive flights at stake. 

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