Mexican airports received 14.8 million foreign tourists by air between January and August 2026, a 4.8% drop compared with the same period in 2025 and the lowest volume for that span since 2022, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), whose data was published by El Universal.
The August figure confirms the pattern, as Infobae reported, using numbers from the same survey, that 1.39 million non-border tourists arrived by plane in August 2026, 6.5% fewer than a year earlier, while total international travelers rose 1.3%, to 7.98 million. Mexico receives more visitors, but fewer of those who stay overnight and spend more. The difference is material: each tourist who arrived by air spent an average of 1,291 dollars per month, compared with 391 dollars for the land tourist and 120 dollars for the border tourist, according to INEGI. Income from air tourism totaled 19,101 million dollars between January and August, 1.7% less and the first decline since 2020.
The breakdown by destination shows where the adjustment is concentrated. Figures from the Federal Civil Aviation Agency gathered by El Universal indicate that international passenger traffic fell 6.1% at Cancun airport, 7.8% in Los Cabos and 19.2% in Puerto Vallarta between January and August, while Tulum recorded a 45% collapse. At that terminal, Aeroméxico announced the end of operations: "We are going to make a temporary suspension. September 30 will be the last day. It is suspended due to market conditions and to maximize routes." American Airlines, the first international airline to operate in Tulum, also cut its route offering. At the other extreme, cruise excursionists reached 785,558 in August, 12.3% more, according to the same survey.
The calendar marks the next test: the winter season, when the arrival of the visitors who spend the most is concentrated. Francisco Madrid, director of the Center for Advanced Research in Sustainable Tourism at Universidad Anáhuac, noted that "the fall in air tourism continues to have a negative impact on the meager growth of foreign currency income."
This article was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence based on verified sources and reviewed by a human editor before publication.