Cancún airport passenger numbers: 8.6% fewer in September 2026 and 5.9% fewer so far this year

Cancún airport handled 1,607,088 passengers in September 2026, 8.6% fewer than in September 2025, according to the traffic report from ASUR, the airport operator. That is 151,631 fewer passengers than the 1,758,719 of a year earlier. From January to September the total is 20,882,658 passengers, 5.9% fewer than in the same period of 2025.

How much did international and domestic traffic fall?

• International: 848,775 passengers in September, 11.8% fewer than a year earlier.
• Domestic: 758,313 passengers, 4.8% fewer.
• January to September: 20,882,658 versus 22,196,857 in 2025, that is 1,314,199 fewer. The international year-to-date total is down 6.5%.

Across all of ASUR’s airports in Mexico, traffic fell 6.1% in September (domestic 3.7%, international 9.8%). The full group reported 8.6 million passengers, unchanged from 2025.

Why did it fall?

The sources consulted offer no measured cause. Bernardo Cueto Riestra, head of the state Tourism Secretariat, cited the cost of jet fuel and conflicts in the Middle East as causes of fewer air seats in 2026. Andrés Martínez, head of the Consejo de Promoción Turística (Tourism Promotion Council), acknowledged that it will be hard to recover earlier levels because of the exit of Spirit Airlines. These are statements, not measurements.

And tourism revenue?

An analysis by the STARC center at Universidad Anáhuac Cancún, cited by Sal! Revista, estimates that the 12-month moving average of international air arrivals fell about 5.2%, from roughly 1.935 million to 1.835 million. The same analysis reports that international tourism revenue grew 0.9% from January to August 2026 compared with 2025; the report does not specify the currency.

About these figures

The Cancún numbers match between ASUR’s release of October 7, 2026 and the media reports that cite it. For Cancún, the cutoff is September 2026.

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