International Flights Fuel Passenger Increase at Puerto Vallarta Airport

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico — Puerto Vallarta's domestic air tourism has decreased, but the influx of international visitors has led to a rise in the overall number of passengers at the International Airport in February.

Preliminary data for February 2024 shows a 1.1% increase in total passenger traffic across the 12 airports operated by Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico compared to February 2023. Specifically, airports in Puerto Vallarta, Guanajuato, Los Cabos, and Guadalajara saw passenger increases of 7.7%, 5.3%, 1.7%, and 0.6%, respectively, over the same period last year, with Puerto Vallarta achieving the highest growth rate.

The Puerto Vallarta airport welcomed 662,200 passengers in February, marking a 7.7% increase from the 614,600 passengers recorded in February 2023. The total count of passengers for the first two months reached 1,362,100, up 4.6% from 1,301,700 in the previous year.

However, domestic flights witnessed a decline, with 168,500 passengers arriving in February 2024, an 8.2% decrease from the 183,500 in February 2023. This downward trend in the domestic segment has persisted, with a total of 369,200 passengers in the first two months, down 9.8% from 409,600 in 2023.

Conversely, international flights saw significant growth, with 493,700 passengers in February, a 14.5% increase from the 431,100 in February 2023. This sector has shown continuous expansion, totaling 992,500 passengers in the first two months, up 11.3% from 892,100 in the previous year.

The overall seating capacity at Mexican GAP-operated airports decreased by 2.5% in February 2024 compared to the same month in 2023, mainly due to maintenance checks on Pratt & Whitney engines used in the A320neo and A321neo aircraft families. Despite this, the load factor improved from 78.3% in February 2023 to 81.7% in February 2024.

Additionally, February saw the launch of the Tijuana – Phoenix route operated by American Airlines.