Cancun International Airport has been hit with a wave of domestic and international flight cancelations due to the recent spike in Omicron-fueled cases.
More than 70 flights were canceled between Monday and Tuesday owing to a staff shortage at Mexico’s second busiest airport and the country’s leading airport in international passenger traffic.
Given that Mexico does not have in place any entry health regulations, it was inevitable that crew members were exposed to the latest highly-contagious coronavirus variant.
Unlike other Asia-Pacific regions where restrictions are severe, flocking to Mexico was an easy call for travelers who were extra motivated to switch Thailand and Indonesia’s hot spots to the beaches of Mexico.
2021 was a year of substantial recovery for the Cancun airport, which carried a total of 22,318,467 passengers, an increase of 87.58 percent over the previous year.
The terminal is projected to reach or exceed pre-pandemic levels in 2022.
However, a recent estimate suggests the cancelations are likely to continue. For the very first time since Dec. 20, daily operations fell below 500.
Aeromexico revealed that up to 12% of its whole workforce was currently unable to work after testing positive for COVID-19.
Those looking for an exit route through Mexico City should be aware that its international airport is the worst-hit for cancelations.
More than 235 flights were canceled from Jan. 5 to 9 alone.
Aeromexico, the country’s flag carrier, leads the list of affected airlines with 210 flights canceled.
The pandemic “affects all activities,” said an airport spokesperson, while announced that the administration is “doing their best to keep operations going at the airport”.
With an increasing number of COVID-19 cases and the health system being strained, the government upgraded its epidemiology alert to “yellow.”
This means that more people are expected to be flying out since restaurants and other venues in Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum will now have to operate at reduced capacity.
Also, beach events have been canceled, and bars and nightclubs have been closed until the government assesses the epidemiological situation on Jan. 16.