Two of the three Russian airlines that had flights to Cancun have canceled their connections, keeping, for the moment, only Aeroflot with schedules until October of this year.
This was reported by Darío Flota Ocampo, director of the Quintana Roo Tourism Promotion Council (CPTQ), who said that, although the loss of flights is regrettable, what is even more worrying are the repercussions of the armed conflict and its impact on the worldwide economy.
The two airlines that suspended their flights to Cancun since last week are Azur and Norwind, which flew from Moscow to Cancun during the winter season, from October to March of the following year, so in reality, it will only be the month of March what will be lost from the strong season of Russian tourism.
The other airline that has been suspended since last week is Ukraine International, from Kyiv, which began operating in November of last year, “so it was actually a new market for Cancun,” the official explained.
Previously, the federal Ministry of Tourism reported that for 2022, 78,434 plane seats were planned for Cancun through Aeroflot, with 72% of the total, Azur Air with 22%, and Nordwind Airlines with 6%, with an expected spill of 88.5 million passengers. Dollars.
Russian tourism is characterized by very long stays in the Mexican Caribbean of up to 14 days and a high spillover, which makes this market one of the most valued among the tourist services offered in the Mexican Caribbean, which is actually the only destination of the entire country with direct connectivity to Russia and Ukraine, explained the head of the CPTQ.
Between January and December of last year, the Mexico City airport received only 13,509 Russians and 7,351 Ukrainians, that is, Cancun captured almost three times more travelers from this region than its closest competitor at the national level; Cancun represents 80% of the Russians that Mexico registered in 2021.
The figure is very similar in the case of Ukrainians since the Mexican Caribbean captured 69.2% of the total number of citizens of this nationality who visited Mexico last year.
Source: El Economista