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By KELIN DILLON

According to new data from the Mexican Secretariat of Tourism (Sectur), more than 30.13 million air passengers flew through Mexico during the first quarter of 2024, surpassing pre-pandemic air tourism levels.

Approximately 14.112 million travelers flew domestically while the remaining 16.23 million flew through Mexico internationally.

“Passengers transported on domestic flights from January to March 2024 registered an increase of 18.5 percent compared to figures during the same period of 2019; meanwhile, passengers on international flights exceeded the number of travelers registered during the first quarter of 2023 by 10.3 percent, and the first quarter of 2019 by 22 percent,” said Sectur head Miguel Torruco Marqués.

“The five main airlines with the highest passenger arrivals on domestic flights in the first quarter of 2024 were VivaAerobus, with 5.25 million passengers; Volaris, with 4.700 million passengers; Aeroméxico with 2.876 million passengers, Aeroméxico Connect, with 1.93 million passengers; and Magnicharters with 58,197 passengers transported,” added the tourism secretary.

As the leader of Mexico’s domestic flight figures in 2024, VivaAerobus reportedly transported 69 percent more travelers during the year’s first quarter than the airline registered during the same period in 2019.

Meanwhile, Aeroméxico and Volaris led Mexico’s national airlines with the highest number of international passengers transported during the quarter, with American Airlines and United Airlines leading the back of U.S. airlines bringing international travelers to Mexico.

Torruco Marqués also noted that Mexican airlines’ number of international passengers transported grew 16.8 percent from the first quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024.