Tulum’s new airport is a contemporary, intriguing and imperfect possibility for vacationers. Right here’s what it’s like

There is a brand-new airport for vacationers hoping to go to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

A number of U.S. carriers launched service in the course of the previous week to Tulum’s vivid and glossy Felipe Carrillo Puerto Worldwide Airport (TQO), and TPG was there to report because the inaugurals started.

About 20 miles from the middle of Tulum, the airport could possibly be a extra handy possibility for vacationers visiting the area’s seashores, resorts and historic websites — a lot of which sit nearer to Tulum than Cancun.

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Although it opened for home service in December, the airport welcomed its first worldwide flights from past Mexico on Thursday.

As a part of that worldwide “grand opening,” TPG was on board the first-arriving American Airways flight — in addition to the first-departing Delta Air Traces flight. We aimed to get some perception into the brand new airport and the brand new dots and contours on these airways’ route maps. This manner, we might help you resolve whether or not that is the appropriate airport in your subsequent journey to Mexico.

Preliminary response

From the entry highway into the airport to the constructing to the terminal, taxiways and runways, the whole lot is new. It is clear, contemporary and fewer overwhelming than the older and better-known Cancun Worldwide Airport (CUN).

General, it is a attractive house with excessive ceilings, intelligent creative touches and loads of nods to the great thing about the encircling Riviera Maya.

Pure mild floods into the terminal with floor-to-ceiling home windows, illuminating the spacious ticketing space and permitting company loads of views of the ever-increasing variety of plane coming and going.

Nonetheless, readers ought to be conscious it’s missing some facilities proper now: The Wi-Fi and air-con had been lackluster on day one in all worldwide flights, and it has little in the best way of concessions in the intervening time.

General, although, it is a formidable new possibility for vacationers.

Here is what we discovered arriving and departing on the primary day of worldwide service at Tulum’s new airport.

What vacationers can count on on a visit to TQO

Tulum, the Riviera Maya, Cancun and the complete Yucatan Peninsula are stuffed with attractive resorts.

Traditionally, although, company hoping to get to Tulum have needed to fly into busy Cancun Airport earlier than getting a taxi or personal shuttle to their resort; this is usually a multihour trek and price $150 or extra every method. The brand new airport is designed, partially, to resolve that drawback.

Sadly, it is nonetheless not the right answer.

For the reason that airport is definitely south of Tulum correct, the drive may nonetheless probably take near an hour (or extra) if you happen to’re heading to the farther-north resorts of the Riviera Maya.

Nonetheless, there’s hope amongst some locals that splitting passengers throughout two airports may in the end assist relieve among the site visitors issues the broader Cancun space has seen just lately.

The place is the brand new Tulum airport?

Once more, the brand new Tulum airport is not precisely in Tulum.

It is about 20 miles from the middle of city — and it’s kind of farther from lots of the common resorts within the space.

One employee TPG spoke with at Tropical Elite Journey, an area transportation firm, was fast to notice the airport is greater than a “stone’s throw” from among the area’s better-known resorts north of Tulum. That is one thing for vacationers to bear in mind as they plan journeys.

For some extra context, the airport is near 100 miles south of Cancun. Playa del Carmen is correct in between these two locations alongside the coast.

Attending to and from the brand new Tulum airport

Following a keep on the Hilton Tulum Riviera Maya All-Inclusive Resort, TPG managing editor Clint Henderson — who was on the first-departing Delta Air Traces flight Thursday — spent about an hour driving to the terminal.

On the plus aspect, that is quite a bit quicker than the 1 1/2 hours it took to get to the resort after arriving on a flight from Cancun.

Nonetheless, even with that shorter distance, attending to TQO was pricier than you would possibly count on. The shuttle from the beforehand talked about Tropical Elite Journey charged riders the identical $120-plus for a switch to TQO.

Our crew discovered a taxi journey from the Tulum airport to the middle of city (a few 45-minute journey) was about $60. From the Conrad Tulum Riviera Maya, north of city, it was nearer to $100 for a taxi to the brand new airport.

There are additionally some cheaper methods to get to the airport, like taking an ADO bus.

Departing the brand new Tulum airport

Passengers enter the brand-new terminal by way of any of the 4 ground-level doorways.

General, it is a a lot quieter really feel as you enter the airport. In the event you can image the honking horns, police sirens and general bustle and chaos widespread at busy airports’ drop-off curbs, that is removed from that.

It is also a far cry from Cancun’s a lot busier airport, which sees hundreds of thousands of passengers yearly (almost 4.8 million from the U.S. alone in 2023) and plane arriving from everywhere in the world.

Apart from the occasional noise of a jet taking off, it sounds (and ultimately feels) extra such as you’re in a public park than outdoors a busy airport.

Floor ground

Inside, on the bottom ground (which is technically the arrivals stage), there are at the moment a couple of outlets, rental automotive firm workplaces, taxi stands and bus line workplaces.

That is the place you will find yourself after baggage declare (extra on that in a bit).

Throughout, you possibly can hear the sounds of development, making clear that elements of the airport (most notably the food and drinks institutions) stay a piece in progress.

Ticketing space

A number of escalators, elevators and stairs take you as much as the ticketing space, which is spacious and ethereal — and simply probably the most spectacular a part of the constructing.

Daylight pours in by way of a translucent roof. There are two giant islands the place airways have arrange their check-in and bag drop stations.

American, Delta and United every have a row of check-in counters with loads of house. On the opening day of U.S. flights, there have been balloons and treats to honor the inaugural flights.

United added its personal check-in counters with some modest decor when it launched service Sunday.

JetBlue plans to launch service to Tulum within the coming months. So do Air Canada and Panama-based Copa Airways.

Safety

The safety space was effectively staffed and took only a few minutes to get by way of.

Since Tulum is a a lot smaller airport than Cancun, you’ll be able to probably count on smaller crowds — significantly till airways absolutely scale up their flight schedules out of the airport.

For Clint’s departure on Delta’s inaugural flight, two officers checked his passport and boarding move earlier than he was allowed to scan his ticket at automated gates.

At safety, officers requested passengers to take away belts and watches in order that they could possibly be put by way of the X-ray machines. Different objects, like laptops and Kindles, needed to be eliminated and put right into a separate bin for scanning.

Airside

The departures concourse is one straight hallway. In the event you go neglected of safety, you will discover gates for home Mexico flights — at the very least proper now.

In the event you go proper, you will discover the gates for flights departing to U.S. locations.

In all, the airport has 13 plane parking positions. There are solely 4 true gates within the concourse itself, however some gates result in a number of jet bridges. So, you possibly can find yourself departing from a “D3A” or a “D3B.”

Aesthetically, the attractive ceilings had loads of lighting, with Mayan-inspired wooden sculptures making a dramatic influence.

This airport’s floor-to-ceiling home windows will probably encourage AvGeeks with killer views of plane taking off and touchdown.

Departing passengers will discover wide-open areas, loads of seating, and sporadic plugs and shops. Like most airport terminals, when flights begin boarding, passengers congregate within the concourse a bit. Nonetheless, typically talking, it is a pretty spacious concourse. That might be much more true as soon as development absolutely wraps up and there are extra locations to eat, drink and sit.

Marble flooring and excessive ceilings give the terminal a high-gloss look.

These gates quantity D1 by way of D4.

The gates appeared to be typically interchangeable, “widespread use” gates. So, you would possibly see a Delta jet depart from a gate at one level within the day after which an American airplane at that gate later within the day.

On day one in all worldwide flight operations, American Airways embellished its gates with balloons and signage to mark the event.

Tulum makes use of automated gates that allow you to scan your boarding move, however proper now, gate brokers nonetheless appear to be checking passports previous to departure.

Because it was the primary day of worldwide flights to Tulum, the flights had been way more packed arriving than departing, so the concourse was pretty empty. That may probably change within the coming months as U.S. and different worldwide airways add extra service.

On today, nonetheless, Delta’s inaugural outbound flight was flippantly booked, with one employee saying there have been 120 empty seats on the Boeing 737-800 — reminiscent of how empty planes had been flying in the course of the worst of the pandemic.

Facilities on the new Tulum airport

As talked about, despite the fact that U.S. airways solely simply launched service to Tulum, the airport has technically been open for about 4 months.

Nonetheless, it is pretty bare-bones in relation to facilities — at the very least proper now.

That is very true relating to food and drinks choices.

Foods and drinks

Laborious-hat areas make it clear that extra outlets and eating places — together with massive chains and native spots — are on the best way.

Finally, extra eating places might be accessible, together with some that might be acquainted to Individuals. TPG noticed “proximamente” (“quickly”) indicators for the whole lot from Starbucks to Firehouse Subs to Le Ache Quotidien to Burger King to Applebee’s.

It is a related story landside, the place we noticed indicators for well-known shops like Starbucks and Domino’s, together with some extra regionally impressed food and drinks institutions.

Proper now, although, be warned: Meals choices are sparse, with only a few small concession stands — assume snack bars, not eating places.

Till extra locations open, vacationers can count on little greater than bodega-like institutions promoting chilly water, sodas and bagged snacks like potato chips.

This could get quite a bit higher within the coming months. In truth, there are already tables in place for what seems to be a budding meals court docket.

In the mean time, a key piece of recommendation if you happen to’re headed to the airport: Do not arrive hungry.

Procuring

Mockingly, regardless of the concourse being devoid of sustenance, there’s already a duty-free store up and operating instantly post-security. Distributors wasted no time promoting merchandise like cologne, make-up and booze to vacationers heading residence from trip.

Is there a lounge on the new Tulum airport?

Among the many “coming quickly” areas is a Sala VIP membership. A employee there mentioned it might be opening in a couple of weeks.

The indicators close to the boarding space the place American Airways had arrange festivities for its first flight out of Tulum recommended the lounge could be known as The Grand Lounge Elite Salas Membership; it has a number of shops at Mexico Metropolis Worldwide Airport (MEX) and accepts Precedence Go.

Different facilities

A small nondenominational chapel with an enormous lighted cross on the altar may present a pleasant respite for individuals who need a non secular second on the airport.

There have been additionally a number of giant restrooms in a number of spots all through the terminal. The bogs had been spotless, and the whole lot labored completely, as one would possibly count on at a brand new airport.

Inside was a big restroom as effectively.

Lastly, there have been two youngsters’s play areas. One was close to the home gates, and there was one other close to the worldwide departure gates (D3 and D4).

Arriving on the new Tulum airport

The arrival at Tulum was seamless for TPG aviation reporter Sean Cudahy, who was on the first-ever business flight from outdoors Mexico to the touch down on the new airport.

After stunning views of the Mexican shoreline on the ultimate descent, it was a fast taxi to the gate; passengers had been off the plane in minutes.

With a a lot smaller footprint than the Cancun airport, it was a really quick stroll to customs — not more than a minute or two down a ramp.

Getting by way of customs

Alongside the best way, it grew to become clear that this can be a extra visually interesting airport than the one in Cancun.

There have been loads of nods to the Mayan aesthetic and pure fantastic thing about the Riviera Maya. One instance is that this tunnel main into the customs space.

Passport management was a breeze. Since we had been the primary worldwide arrival (and among the first vacationers off the plane), the customs brokers had been ready for passengers — not the opposite method round.

Nonetheless, with 18 lanes and a comparatively modest variety of worldwide flights deliberate to the brand new airport this 12 months, it looks like a facility that ought to be effectively geared up to deal with the deliberate passenger site visitors at the same time as issues get busier.

However, as at all times, will probably be value watching how that unfolds within the coming months.

Baggage declare

Sean waited not more than 5 minutes for his bag at baggage declare, the place there are three carousels for worldwide carriers.

Notably, baggage declare is mere steps from the place floor crew members unload luggage from the plane. This ought to be a serious assist in getting luggage again to passengers expeditiously.

That is an space the place Tulum has the possibility to excel over Cancun. Currently, TPG has heard stories of multihour waits for baggage on some peak days in Cancun.

After you have your bag in hand, head to at least one final customs station, the place your entire belongings (even carry-on luggage) must undergo one extra scanner. Quite a few vacationers had been stopped randomly by Mexican officers to have their luggage opened and inspected.

TPG crew members have skilled this in Cancun as effectively, so it is pretty per the arrival expertise there.

This might flip right into a spot the place bottlenecks could possibly be an issue within the coming months, so simply be ready that upon getting your bag in hand, your wait might not be over. As one of many first worldwide passengers to proceed by way of this checkpoint, although, the wait was virtually nonexistent.

Floor transportation

Vacationers who’ve flown into Cancun know it may be a bit chaotic when you emerge from baggage declare; there are taxi firms, shuttle companies, timeshares and tour operators all attempting to get your consideration.

There have additionally been stories of scams and unscrupulous pricing from taxi and Uber drivers on the Cancun airport for years, with guests generally caught within the center.

Snap response at Tulum: There’s a few of that, nevertheless it’s on a a lot smaller scale at a smaller airport.

Sean organized on-site for a taxi to his central Tulum resort for $60, and the motive force was attentive and pleasant.

General, although, Tulum’s floor transportation nonetheless appears costlier than what you’d count on within the area. You may be taking a look at wherever from $100 to $120 if you happen to go to any of the bigger resorts.

In case you are headed to Tulum correct, there are taxis for much less; our journey to get there was “simply” $60. Most guests, nonetheless, will probably be headed farther afield.

The airport additionally provides rental vehicles, nevertheless it’s value checking opening and shutting hours. Rental automotive workplaces are already open on the airport, together with Hertz and Europcar, and that could possibly be value it if you happen to do not thoughts driving. Simply take into account most resorts will even cost you for parking.

You would possibly wish to examine a bus service known as ADO, which is able to drop you at spots near main resort areas beginning at $20 one-way. It was already taking bookings on the Tulum airport. You may nonetheless must take a taxi to your remaining vacation spot, however this might assist cost-conscious guests.

Transportation on this a part of Mexico is just not terribly organized, and the brand new airport will not resolve these points.

Finally, the brand new (and controversial) Tren Maya (Mayan Prepare) will open a station on the Tulum airport. There was signage and development for the prepare on my journey into the airport, nevertheless it does not appear like it is opening anytime quickly.

The prepare began service in December, however thus far, it solely goes between Cancun Worldwide Airport and town of Campeche. Finally, it would come to Tulum and to the airport, however that is a great distance off, judging by the development websites on the airport.

In the event you’re planning a visit to Tulum, we might advise checking upfront along with your resort to see what kind of transportation you would possibly have the ability to e-book upfront.

How costly is it to fly to Tulum?

For the foreseeable future, U.S. airways will function far fewer flights to Tulum than Cancun. That is partially as a result of airways are simply getting operations off the bottom. Additionally, Tulum is, fairly merely, a a lot smaller airport.

Because of the forces of provide and demand, that may make for costlier airfare to the newer Yucatan Peninsula airport.

Between now and the tip of September, the common round-trip airfare to Cancun is round $364 (or $433 if you wish to e-book a nonstop flight), in accordance with reserving app Hopper.

For Tulum, round-trip costs sit round $437 — about 20% greater — or $455 for a nonstop flight.

What US airways fly to Tulum?

From the outset, the “Huge Three” legacy U.S. airways are providing service to Tulum. A fourth provider is coming quickly.

Spirit Airways had initially deliberate Tulum service from Orlando and Fort Lauderdale however needed to quickly postpone these flights amid fleet constraints. In February, the airline instructed TPG it hoped to reestablish plans to launch Tulum service sooner or later.

Backside line

The brand-new Felipe Carrillo Puerto Worldwide Airport is a wonderful airport that’s value contemplating in your subsequent journey to the Yucatan Peninsula.

The airport is not as shut as company visiting Tulum, Riviera Maya and Playa del Carmen resorts would possibly hope.

Nonetheless, it will possibly nonetheless be a extra handy possibility than Cancun Worldwide Airport for guests to some resort cities within the space.

It is also quite a bit much less crowded and chaotic than the Cancun airport and does not have (thus far) as lots of the aggressive salespeople attempting to get you to hire a automotive, purchase a timeshare or hail a cab.

Until you are touring to a resort in Cancun itself, or in any other case visiting the northern reaches of Mexico’s Caribbean coast, it might be value contemplating TQO over Cancun — even when it’s important to pay a bit extra to fly out and in of this airport.

That mentioned, the airport has rising pains. The air-con is spotty, the Wi-Fi is not at the moment working, and there are only a few outlets and eating places proper now. Oh, and there’s no lounge as of writing.

Keep tuned as TPG screens how the airport performs as crowds and flight choices develop within the coming months.

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