Cancún International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de Cancún) (IATA: CUN, ICAO: MMUN) is located in Cancún, Quintana Roo, on the Caribbean coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. It is Mexico's second busiest airport, after Mexico City International Airport in Mexico City, but the biggest in Mexico for International passengers. In 2012, Cancún airport handled 14,463,435 passengers, an 11.1% increase compared to 2011.

The airport has been expanding as it has become one of the most important international airports in the country. It has two parallel operative runways that are 1,500m apart which allows them to be used simultaneously, and three commercial terminals. Terminal 1 is used by charter airlines from North America, including domestic charter airlines. Terminal 2 is used by some international airlines, as all of the scheduled domestic airlines, and new Terminal 3 handles primarily international operations of airlines from North America and Europe.

The airport is operated by Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, together with Cozumel International Airport, Mérida International Airport, Veracruz International Airport, Villahermosa International Airport and Xoxocotlán International Airport among others. It used to be a hub for Aerocancun, Aladia, Mexicana, and MexicanaLink.

Asur announced an expansion of terminal 2 which will be completed by 2013, and terminal 3 will also be expanded after the completion of terminal 2. Asur also announced the construction of a hotel within the airport space.

Terminals

Terminals

The airport has three terminals, two of which are currently in use, with Terminal 1 scheduled for remodelling.

Terminal 1

• Terminal 1 has 7 gates: 1-7A. It is temporarily closed for remodelling, so that it can be used again by charter airlines that operate into the airport.

Terminal 2

• Terminal 2 has 22 gates: A1-A11 and B12-B22
  • The Satellite Building has 11 gates on the upper level: A1-A11
  • The Main Building: has 11 gates on the lower level: B12-B22

Terminal 3

• Terminal 3 has 15 gates: C23-C37

The terminals together comprise 47 boarding gates (of which 17 are remote), 22 (A1-A11 and B12-B22) in Terminal 2, and 14 in Terminal 3.^[1]

Airlines and destinations

Cargo airlines

ASUR's cargo operations are centered at Cancún International Airport, where the service is rendered by the company Caribbean Logistics, S. A. de C. V.

Traffic statistics

Notes

• ^1 Denotes passengers in scheduled flights.
• ^2 Denotes passengers in charter flights.
• ^3 Official statistics include JFK and Newark airports

Expansion

In 2005 ASUR invested US$150 million for the construction of Terminal 3 (open since 2007), a new runway, and a new control tower. With the opening of the new terminal the airport doubled the amount of passengers it could handle. The new runway and tower were opened in October 2009. The new runway was built north of the current runway and is 2,800 m long, and 45 m wide; the new control tower is the tallest in Latin America standing at 97 meters tall. ASUR has also started on their cargo complex project which will be completed in three phases. In phase 0 it will have facilities capable of handling 20,000 tons of cargo (phase 0 Complete). Phase 1 the cargo complex will be relocated to a new site within the airport grounds. A 5,000-m plant will be built to house it, with sufficient capacity to handle 70,000 tons of freight per year. Phase 2 the cargo complex will be extended by 5,000-m2 more and will be capable of handling 140,000 tons of freight per year. Phase 3 the cargo complex will be extended by 5,000-m2 more and will be capable of handling 210,000 tons of freight per year. In 2012 construction will begin on International Terminal 4. ASUR in partnership with Jet Blue has designed a state of the art facility capable of handling an additional 800,000 passengers annually. The terminal will also feature duty-free designer boutiques, extensive dining options and an Aloft Hotel. Terminal 4 is expected to be operational by 2015.

Accidents and Incidents

• On March 15, 1984, Aerocozumel Flight 261 crashed soon after takeoff. No one died in crash. One of the passengers died of a heart attack while moving through the swamp.^[9]

• On September 9, 2009, hijacked Aeroméxico Flight 576 landed at Mexico City International Airport from Cancun International Airport.

• On January 19, 2010, a Mexicana Airbus A318, flight MX-368 from Cancun to Mexico City, with 45 passengers suffered a mishap at takeoff. Both the outboard and inboard core cowling of the left hand engine separated, hitting the fuselage and the semi-left wing leaving residues on the runway; a few minutes later, a Click Mexicana Boeing 717, flight QA-7323 from Havana to Cancun suffered the puncture of two tires while landing; in both incidents no casualties or injured passengers were reported.^{[citation needed]}

Accolades

• 2011 - Best Airport in Latin America - Caribbean of the Airport Service Quality Awards by Airports Council International^[10] and 2nd Best Airport by Size in the 5 to 15 million passenger category.^[11]

See also

• List of the busiest airports in Mexico

References

External links

• Cancun Airport (ASUR: Aeropuertos del Sureste) (in English)
• Airport information for MMUN at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.Source: DAFIF.
• Airport information for MMUN at Great Circle Mapper. Source: DAFIF (effective Oct. 2006).
• Current weather for MMUN at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for CUN at Aviation Safety Network