UK Flights to Cancún Return After 6-Year Hiatus

Cancún, Mexico — Airlines are beginning to increase routes to the Mexican Caribbean ahead of the winter season. Among the notable additions is a Virgin Atlantic flight from the United Kingdom, which will connect to Cancún starting October 19. Meanwhile, two new domestic routes are arriving in Cozumel from the country's capital to attract more travelers.

Andrés Martínez Reynoso, director of the Quintana Roo Tourism Promotion Council (CPTQ), confirmed that the return of the international flight will solidify the British market among the top five in importance for the Mexican Caribbean by volume of tourists issued per year.

"In 2019, Virgin Atlantic Airways bid farewell to the Mexican Caribbean coast with the suspension of the route that connected it to the British capital, London, after seven uninterrupted years of flying to Cancún," he explained.

The suspension of the route was announced on March 26, 2018, amid changes made by Virgin to its long-haul destination network to include other destinations like Dubai, in order to recover from its first financial loss in more than four years.

The return of this flight was achieved at the 2024 edition of the World Travel Market, where the Quintana Roo delegation negotiated with the airline for a direct connection due to the great interest of British tourists in visiting the Mexican Caribbean.

Currently, after almost six years without Virgin Atlantic operations in Cancún, the British market is the third largest international market for Quintana Roo, only behind the United States and Canada.

Nationally, between January and July of this year, 265,252 British visitors have been captured, of which 204,591 have landed at the Cancún International Airport. This means that the Mexican Caribbean has captured 77.1 percent of all tourism from that European country that has visited Mexican soil in the first seven months of this year.

Regarding domestic routes in Cozumel, Viva Aerobus and Volaris have implemented a pilot route from Felipe Ángeles Airport, thereby bringing more travelers directly to the islands of Quintana Roo.