Airport authorities in Mérida report that 54 different flights are scheduled for Mérida’s airport this Mother’s Day.
This well above an average number of flights stands in stark contrast to the roughly 20 monthly flights registered during the height of the pandemic in 2020.
Unlike in the United States and Canada where Mother’s Day falls on a Sunday, the occasion in Mexico is always on May 10.
“We continue to see flight frequency increase, and are confident that this trend will continue,” said a press statement from Mérida’s ASUR airport authority.
Though most flights in and out of Mérida are domestic, the airport also connects Yucatán with cities in the United States including Houston and Miami, as well as Toronto Canada.
In recent years flights to other destinations including Cuba have also been on the rise.
Another notable example is TAG Airlines’ direct flight to and from Guatemala City.
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However, despite the increase in activity, airport authorities note that Mérida’s airport is currently operating at roughly 25 capacity.
Mérida’s current airport is capable of accommodating aircraft as large as Boeing 747s and 777s. However, most planes landing there are smaller, most commonly the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.
These facts combined with other factors such as considerable budget shortfalls call into question the need for a new and even larger airport announced earlier this year.
The relocation of the Mérida Airport was rumored for years. It is speculated to be aligned somewhere along with the Mayan Train system, which is also slowly in the works.
Mérida’s Manuel Crescencio Rejon International Airport was first built in 1928 and has been remodeled and enlarged on several occasions since the 1960s.
