The new Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport in the Caribbean resort city of Tulum will officially welcome its first flights from abroad before the end of the month, with Delta Air Lines and American Airlines scheduled to inaugurate flights from the United States on March 28.
Four months after the Tulum airport opened, Delta will begin daily flights from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. American will follow suit with three daily routes from Dallas, Charlotte and Miami.
Spirit Airlines was to begin operating direct flights from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, that same day but has been forced to postpone its inaugural flight due to difficulties related to the repair and availability of plane engine parts.
United Airlines is scheduled to begin non-stop flights to Tulum from Newark (New Jersey), Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston on March 31. The airline also announced plans to add flights to several other Mexican resort destinations including Cancún, Puerto Vallarta and San José del Cabo in Baja California Sur.
The news site Debate reported that JetBlue will wait until June to launch its first flight to Tulum, departing from New York’s JFK International Airport.
The first direct flight from Europe is expected by the end of the year after Discover Airlines, a subsidiary of Lufthansa Group, announced last month that it would fly non-stop from Frankfurt, Germany, beginning on Dec. 12.
The long-awaited Tulum International Airport was inaugurated on Dec. 1, beginning operations with five daily domestic flights operated by Viva Aerobus, Mexicana de Aviación and Aeroméxico.
Tulum — known for its turquoise waters and cliffside Maya ruins — is 65 kilometers south of the resort city of Playa del Carmen, while Cancún is another 45 kilometers further north.
The airport is built on a 1,200-hectare site located 25 kilometers southwest of downtown Tulum.
Public transport to the airport is available via the ADO bus line with direct service from Cancún, Playa del Carmen and other cities across the Yucatán Peninsula. The airport sits on Federal Highway 307, facilitating access to the local station of the Maya Train.
With reports from Debate and Verest Magazine
