Mexico Offers Near-Full Airport Fee Subsidies to Airlines That Add Tulum Routes

Tulum, Quintana Roo — Mexico’s federal Tourism Secretariat (Sectur) will roll out an emergency package of incentives and subsidies for airlines next year in an effort to rebuild air connectivity at Tulum International Airport, the department said.

Tourism Secretary Josefina Rodríguez Zamora said the support would cover close to 100 percent of the airport service fees carriers are required to pay. She announced the plan ahead of the ITB Americas travel trade fair.

“On the Tulum issue we have some new incentives that we will be announcing, but they come close to 100 percent for a year for any airline that opens new routes, in airport services and landing fees,” Rodríguez Zamora said.

Airlines Have Been Pulling Out

In recent weeks, Mexican carriers Aeroméxico and Volaris and U.S. airlines United Airlines and American Airlines have announced they are canceling flights to the southeastern airport, citing market conditions and rising costs, including jet fuel prices.

The latest to announce changes was Delta Air Lines, which disclosed additional adjustments to its operations — another blow to the tourist destination’s air connectivity.

The airline said last year that it had suspended its routes from Detroit and Minneapolis to the Mexican Caribbean terminal, leaving only its regular service from Atlanta. It has now decided to modify that remaining operation as well.

Delta said the Atlanta-Tulum flight, which runs seven times a week, will be suspended as of May 3, 2027, with plans to resume in November of the same year — but only as a seasonal service.

New Routes Nationwide

Rodríguez Zamora said her department has been working with domestic and international airlines to restore air connectivity across the country, and that the effort has already produced results, including 17 new routes that will be announced from Canada.

“We keep opening routes. In Jalisco alone there are 21 new flights, Grupo Aeroméxico opened new ones to the United States, and we are going for more. Those are the conversations we have had with them,” she said.

The tourism secretary said the 17 new flights to and from Canada, involving several airlines, will launch in the coming months, describing Canada as a fast-growing market.