Mexico has surpassed Brazil as the leading aviation market in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 58.15 million passengers versus 53.6 million in the South American country in the first half of 2023. The country recorded a 94% recovery in passenger traffic of its pre-pandemic numbers.
The traffic figures were recently released by the country’s Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation Secretariat.
Mexico registered 27.64 million international travelers with American Airlines leading the segment with 3.85 million passengers. Mexico is second only to the United States in terms of carried passengers.
Volaris led the domestic traffic with 12.16 million passengers followed by Viva Aerobus with 9.57 million and Aeromexico with 8.44 million passengers.
Between January and June 2023, the country had 30.50 million domestic passengers, a 17% growth from 2022.
The country also has four regional airlines, Calafia Airlines, Aerus, Magnicharters, and Transportes Aéreos Regionales. Together they carried 294,647 passengers.
In the first half of the year, Mexico registered 27.64 million international travelers recording a 14.5% growth versus the previous year. The Mexican carriers had 7.06 million international travelers (+19%). International airlines reached 20.58 million passengers.
The leading operator in the Mexican international segment was American Airlines with 3.85 million passengers. It is already looking to increase its footprint in Mexico by launching a new route to Tijuana next winter and adding more flights to key destinations such as Cancun.