In the wake of its highly anticipated opening to international travel in March, Tulum’s airport was expected to be a massive success. However, after the first summer season, airlines are scaling back their operations, citing lower-than-expected demand.
Located about 75 miles southwest of Cancun, a two-hour drive by road, Tulum is a growing town with around 50,000 residents. While it has a local population and a sizable expat community, the airport’s convenience is still outshone by Cancun’s international hub.
The problem lies in the fact that most travelers prefer to fly into Cancun, which offers more flights to destinations worldwide. Despite efforts from airlines like American, Delta, JetBlue, and United to fill Tulum’s summer schedule with over 53,000 seats, loads were only around 80-83% full in July.
In comparison, Cancun’s airport saw significantly higher occupancy rates, with most carriers filling more than 90% of their seats. Fares for flights to Tulum were also lower than those to Cancun, further indicating the airport’s struggle to attract travelers.
Airlines are now taking a cautious approach to winter operations, reducing capacity and frequency while ending routes that didn’t meet expectations. American has scaled back its Charlotte service, JetBlue has made JFK winter-only, United has pulled out of LAX and reduced frequencies from Chicago and Newark, Spirit never launched its planned Fort Lauderdale route, and Delta remains the only US carrier with unchanged schedules.
The Canadian market offers a more promising outlook for Tulum, as carriers like Air Canada and WestJet have increased their winter capacity to cater to cold-weather travelers. However, it’s still early days for next summer’s schedules, and it remains to be seen whether Tulum will regain its momentum.
As the airport continues to navigate these challenges, one thing is clear: Tulum has potential, but airlines got ahead of themselves in terms of demand. By scaling back their operations and focusing on winter markets, they may yet find success in this emerging destination.
Source: Cranky Flier
