For the month of July, Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte—known by its acronym OMA—has reported an 8.8 percent year-over-year increase for traffic at the 13 airports it administers. The bulk of the increase was in domestic travel (9.7 percent) with a more modest increase in international passenger traffic (1.8 percent).
Of the nine airports showing greater domestic travel numbers, the largest growth was at Monterrey, with an uptick of 101,236 passengers for an improvement of 11.7 percent over July 2017. More than half of the increase represented in-country flights, largely based on routes linking Monterrey with Cancun, Mexico City, Tijuana, and Guadalajara.
Other airports showing strong percentage increases in domestic traffic included Culiacán (13.2 percent) and Chihuahua (14.7 percent).
OMA attributes increases in international travel numbers at six airports to Magnicharters, which began seasonal services on routes linking Monterrey with Punta Cana; Monterey with the Dominican Republic; and Varadero with Cuba.
Passenger numbers included those traveling on commercial airlines, charters, and general aviation. By far, the bulk of the increase came from commercial operations (99.3 percent).