Tulum International Airport opened in December 2023 as a high-profile alternative to Cancún for travelers headed to Mexico’s Caribbean coast. U.S. and Canadian airlines moved in quickly, betting that visitors would prefer a closer arrival point to Tulum’s hotels, beaches, and resorts. That early push has not held. Since opening, the airport has seen airlines reduce or cancel some of the service they initially planned, and more recent schedule data suggests the pullback has continued rather than reversed.
USA Today, citing Cirium aviation data, reported that major carriers trimmed service to Tulum between 2024 and 2025, with American and United both reducing their spring schedules after the airport’s launch. AirlineGeeks later noted that total scheduled capacity for Tulum in December 2025 was projected to fall about 23% from December 2024, a sign that airlines were still adjusting downward well after the airport’s debut.
Airlines Are Scaling Back After A Fast Start
According to TravelPulse, American Airlines operated 120 flights to Tulum in April 2024 but cut that to 60 flights for April 2025. The same report said United had planned 94 U.S. flights to Tulum for April 2024, but by April 2025, it had dropped to 60. Delta was the only major U.S. carrier in that report to show a modest year-over-year increase in flights, though it still reduced seats on its April schedule.
By May 2025, AirlineGeeks reported that American had already ended Charlotte-Tulum service, that United had dropped its planned Denver route, and that Air Canada had removed plans to resume seasonal flying from Ottawa and Quebec City. AirlineGeeks also noted that overall scheduled capacity to Tulum was expected to be down about 23% in December 2025, compared with the same month a year earlier.
Air Canada’s own comments pointed to a broader recalibration rather than a one-off route change. “I think it’s no secret that the industry in general put a lot of incremental capacity into Tulum; you’re seeing some carriers rationalize a bit,” Air Canada chief commercial officer Mark Galardo said during an earnings call, according to AirlineGeeks. He added that the airline would “pare back a little bit” in Tulum and “double down on Cancun, which performs quite well for us.”
Cancún Still Looms Large In The Region’s Air Travel Market
Part of the challenge for Tulum is that it opened next to one of the most established leisure gateways in the hemisphere. Cancún already had deep airline networks, strong name recognition, and a long history as the main airport for the Riviera Maya. In its fourth-quarter 2024 earnings call, airport operator ASUR said Cancún was “slightly impacted by the initial ramp-up phase of the new Tulum airport” and that Tulum had captured about 1.2 million passengers from Cancún in 2024, with another 1.7 million expected in 2025.
At the same time, ASUR said Cancún still handled 30.4 million passengers last year, underscoring the airport’s dominance in the region. ASUR also offered a more measured outlook for what comes next. “Looking ahead, we expect traffic to normalize in 2026 as the P&W effect dissipates and Tulum’s initial ramp-up concludes,” the company said in its earnings call transcript.
