Querétaro, Mérida and Mexico City have fastest-growing cargo airports

The international airports in Querétaro, Mérida, and Mexico City topped the charts as Mexico’s fastest-growing cargo terminals in the first two months of 2023. 

Handling 12,300 tons of cargo and registering 15.9% growth compared to the same period in 2022, Querétaro International Airport had the fastest cargo handling growth in the country.

Mexico City International Airport (AICM), seen here in 2021, remains the airport with the highest tonnage, despite seeing less growth than Querétaro or Merida. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)

In second place was Mérida International Airport, which registered a volume of 4,100 tons and an annual growth of 10.8%. 

Rounding out the top three was Mexico City International Airport (AICM). While the airport handles more than half of the cargo shipments in Mexico (52.1%), its growth was below that of Querétaro and Mérida at 10.1% – with a total of 95,700 tons handled in January and February. 

In fourth place was Monterrey airport, in Nuevo León, with a volume of 10,900 tons and an annual increase of 2.2%. Ranking at No. 5 is Tijuana, with 1.7% growth and handling 5,200 tons of cargo.  

According to the newspaper El Economista, Querétaro’s growth confirms the airport as an alternative to Mexico City, which will stop receiving air cargo operations in July, according to a presidential decree issued in February. The Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) in Mexico City also started to handle cargo traffic in March.

Querétaro state’s Minister of Sustainable Development Marco Antonio del Prete Tercero has said that in the short term, Querétaro’s airport could handle between 10% to 15% of the cargo currently shipped to Mexico City. 

Querétaro’s capacity, he said, draws from its eight cargo positions, an audited area, internal customs and 10,000 square meters of covered warehouses with refrigerated rooms.

With reports from The Logistics World, El Economista

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
Manzanillo, Colima, México, 13 de marzo de 2026. La doctora Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, presidenta Constitucional de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos en conferencia de prensa matutina, “Conferencia del Pueblo” desde Colima. La acompañan Indira Vizcaíno Silva, gobernadora Constitucional del Estado de Colima; Omar García Harfuch, secretario de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana (SSPC); Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles, secretario de Marina (Semar); Bulmaro Juárez Pérez, divulgador de lenguas originarias, presentador de la sección “Suave Patria”; Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, secretario de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena); Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina, secretario de Infraestructura, Comunicaciones y Transportes; Bryant Alejandro García Ramírez, fiscal general del Estado de Colima; Fabián Ricardo Gómez Calcáneo; Rocío Bárcena Molina, subsecretaria de Desarrollo Democrático, Participación Social y Asuntos Religiosos de la Secretaría de Gobernación; Efraín Morales López, director general de la Comisión Nacional del Agua (Conagua); Marcela Figueroa Franco, secretaria ejecutiva del Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública (SESNSP) y Guillermo Briseño Lobera, comandante de la Guardia Nacional (GN). Foto: Saúl López / Presidencia

Mexico’s week in review: Congress deals Sheinbaum her first legislative defeat

1
The week of March 9 in Mexico was marked by standoffs between allies in Congress and adversaries at the airport. Here's what you missed.
A soldier displays seized handguns

The US and Mexico, growing together and growing apart: A perspective from our CEO

1
From a historic drop in homicides to opposite bets on electric vehicles, Mexico News Daily's CEO breaks down where the U.S. and Mexico are converging — and where they're not.
Veracruz Gov.

Veracruz governor blames private vessel for 200-kilometer Gulf Coast oil spill

1
The spill, which has spread to over 200 kilometers of Mexico's Gulf Coast beaches, has been traced to a private oil tanker off the coast of Tabasco.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity