Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de Guadalajara Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla), or simply Guadalajara International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de Guadalajara) (IATA: GDL, ICAO: MMGL), is the main international airport of Guadalajara, Jalisco, the third-largest city of Mexico. It is Latin America's ninth- and Mexico's third-busiest airport, after Mexico City and Cancún, and second-busiest for cargo flights.^[1] In 2021, it handled 12,243,000 passengers, and 15,606,600 in 2022, an increase of 30.6%.^[2]

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional de Guadalajara Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
GDL Airport front view
IATA: GDL ICAO: MMGL
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
Operator	Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
Serves	Guadalajara, Jalisco
Location	Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Jalisco
Hub for	Volaris Aeromexico VivaAerobús
Elevation AMSL	1,529 m / 5,016 ft
Coordinates	20°31′18″N 103°18′40″W / 20.52167°N 103.31111°W / 20.52167; -103.31111
Maps
Guadalajara airport diagram
GDL Location of airport in Mexico Show map of Jalisco GDL GDL (Mexico) Show map of Mexico
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 11R/29L 4,000 13,123 Asphalt 11L/29R (under construction) 3,538 11,608 Asphalt 02/20 1,818 5,964 Asphalt
Statistics (2022)
Total passengers 15,606,600 Ranking in Mexico 3rd
Source: Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico

Guadalajara's Airport is located 16 km south of the city center. It consists of two runways and one terminal. It is operated by GAP and serves as a hub for Volaris, functioning as the airline's primary gateway to the United States.^[3] It also serves as a hub for Aeromexico and Viva Aerobus. In addition, cargo flights are offered to countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe.

History

It was inaugurated on March 1, 1951, by then-president of Mexico, Miguel Alemán Valdés, and the governor of the state of Jalisco, José de Jesús González Gallo.^[4] The airport is named after Miguel Hidalgo, leader of the Mexican War of Independence.

On May 24, 1993, the airport parking lot was the scene of a deadly firefight between the Logan Heights Gang working for the Tijuana Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel. Seven people were killed including Catholic Archbishop Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo.^[5]

In 2020, it was announced that the Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico group have invested around $14 billion pesos to build a new runway and terminal building, along with new facilities and improvements such as an expanded parking lot, a hotel, office block, and a solar-powered plant.^[6] Additionally, the airport aims to expand services to the United States as well as Europe.^[6] Expected to be completed by 2024, it is part of GAP's new expansion plan for its airports in the state of Jalisco, both Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, and its total budget is $18 billion pesos.^[6] Aeroméxico introduced flights to Madrid on a Boeing 787 in December 2021. This is the Guadalajara airport's first nonstop link to Europe.^[7][8][9]

Terminals

 

Airport's main entrance

 

Terminal map

 

Main corridor at the airport

 

Concourse A at the airport

 

Concourse D (now Concourse C) at the airport

 

Local baggage claim

Passenger terminal

The Passenger Terminal, or Terminal 1, is used by all airlines for international and domestic flights.^[10] The terminal has customs facilities. There are also 27 remote parking positions. It also has 12 jetways and 4 concourses:

• Concourse A - Airside Walk-up gates A1 through A8
• Concourse B - Jetway gates B10 through B13
• Concourse C - Jetway gates C30 through C37
• Concourse D - Lower level, Bus gates D40 through D50

Cargo terminal

The Cargo Terminal was recently expanded and has a capacity to store approximately 350,000 tons of goods annually in its 27,000 square meters. It has six positions that can handle any kind of major aircraft.

 

Terminal interior

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations
Aeroméxico	Chicago–O'Hare, Fresno, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Mexico City–AIFA, Sacramento, San Francisco, Tijuana
Aeroméxico Connect	Atlanta (resumes January 8, 2024),^[11] Detroit (begins March 14, 2024),^[11] Mexico City, Mexico City–AIFA, Salt Lake City
Alaska Airlines	Los Angeles, San Jose (CA)
American Airlines	Dallas/Fort Worth, Phoenix–Sky Harbor
Calafia Airlines	La Paz, Los Mochis
Copa Airlines	Panama City–Tocumen
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta
Magnicharters	Cancún Seasonal: Tijuana
Mexicana de Aviación	Mexico City–AIFA (begins December 2, 2023)^[12]
TAR Aerolineas	Ciudad Juárez, Durango, Puerto Vallarta, Querétaro
United Airlines	Houston–Intercontinental
United Express	Houston–Intercontinental
Viva Aerobus	Bogotá, Cancún, Chicago–O'Hare, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Culiacán, Hermosillo, La Paz, Los Angeles, Mérida, Mexico City, Mexico City–AIFA (resumes December 9, 2023),^[13] Monterrey, Puebla, Puerto Vallarta, Reynosa, Tijuana, Tulum (begins December 16, 2023),^[14] Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Veracruz, Villahermosa Seasonal: Houston–Intercontinental, San José del Cabo
Volaris	Acapulco, Cancún, Charlotte, Chetumal, Chicago–Midway, Chicago–O'Hare, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Obregón, Cozumel, Culiacán, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Fresno, Hermosillo, Houston–Intercontinental, Huatulco, La Paz, Loreto, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Los Mochis, Mérida, Mexicali, Mexico City, Mexico City–AIFA, Miami, Monterrey, New York–JFK, Oakland, Oaxaca, Ontario, Orlando, Phoenix–Sky Harbor, Portland (OR), Puerto Escondido, Puerto Vallarta, Reno/Tahoe, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Jose (CA), San José del Cabo, Seattle/Tacoma, Tapachula, Tijuana, Toluca/Mexico City, Torreón/Gómez Palacio, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Veracruz, Villahermosa

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
ABX Air	Cincinnati
Aeronaves TSM	Laredo
AeroUnion	Los Angeles, Mexico City
Air Canada Cargo	Dallas/Fort Worth, Mexico City–AIFA, Toronto–Pearson
Air France Cargo	Paris–Charles de Gaulle
Amerijet International	Miami
Atlas Air	Anchorage, Los Angeles
Cargolux	Anchorage, Houston–Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Mexico City
Cathay Cargo	Anchorage, Hong Kong
DHL Aviation	Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Querétaro
Emirates SkyCargo	Dubai–Al Maktoum, Frankfurt, Houston–Intercontinental, Mexico City
Estafeta	La Paz, San Luis Potosí
FedEx Express	Memphis
Korean Air Cargo	Seoul–Incheon, Vancouver
Lufthansa Cargo	Dallas/Fort Worth, Frankfurt
Mas Air	Bogotá, Los Angeles, Miami
Panalpina operated by Atlas Air	Huntsville, London–Stansted
Qatar Airways Cargo^[15]	Doha, Liege
TUM AeroCarga	Hermosillo, Tijuana, Toluca, Reynosa
UPS Airlines	Louisville

Amenities

Restaurants

• Burger King
• California Pizza Kitchen
• Carl's Jr.
• Chili's
• Corner Bar
• De Volada Grab N' Go
• El Quijote
• Fronteras Bar
• Guacamole Mexican Grill
• Johnny Rockets
• Krispy Kreme
• La Pausa
• Los Tres Amigos Tacos
• Medas
• Natural Break
• Sbarro
• Starbucks
• Subway
• Wings

Car rental

• Avis
• Enterprise
• Hertz
• Veico Car Rental
• City Car Rental
• Mex Rent A Car

Hotels

• City Express Guadalajara Aeropuerto
• Hampton Inn de Hilton Guadalajara-Aeropuerto
• Hangar Inn^[16]

VIP lounges

• Aeroméxico Salón Premier
• Citibanamex Salón Beyond
• VIP Lounge East
• VIP Lounge West

Statistics

Passengers

Guadalajara Airport Passengers. See Wikidata query.

Annual passenger traffic

Year	Passengers	% change
2010	6,918,621
2011	7,154,959	3.41%
2012	7,389,897	3.28%
2013	8,104,762	9.67%
2014	8,695,183	7.28%
2015	9,758,516	12.22%
2016	11,362,552	16.43%
2017	12,779,874	12.47%
2018	14,340,152	12.21%
2019	14,823,592	3.37%
2020	8,125,600	45.40%
2021	12,243,000	50.7%
2022	15,606,600	30.6%

Busiest routes

Busiest domestic routes from Guadalajara International Airport (2022)^[17]

Rank	City	Passengers	Ranking	Airline
1	Mexico City, Mexico City	1,453,728		Aeromar, Aeroméxico, Aeroméxico Connect, VivaAerobús, Volaris
2	Baja California, Tijuana	1,141,397		Aeroméxico, Magni, VivaAerobús, Volaris
3	Quintana Roo, Cancún	498,367		Magni, VivaAerobús, Volaris
4	Nuevo León, Monterrey	448,797		VivaAerobús, Volaris
5	Baja California, Mexicali	235,208		Volaris
6	Baja California Sur, Los Cabos	217,405		Calafia Airlines, VivaAerobús, Volaris
7	Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez	204,822	1	TAR, VivaAerobús, Volaris
8	Sonora, Hermosillo	193,642	1	Interjet, VivaAerobús, Volaris
9	Sinaloa, Culiacán	148,449		VivaAerobús, Volaris
10	Baja California Sur, La Paz	132,692		Aeromar, Calafia Airlines, VivaAerobús, Volaris
11	Yucatán, Mérida	122,957	1	VivaAerobús, Volaris
12	Chihuahua, Chihuahua	115,197	1	VivaAerobús, Volaris
13	Jalisco, Puerto Vallarta	104,039	1	Aeromar, TAR, VivaAerobús
14	Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez	92,464	1	VivaAerobús, Volaris
15	Veracruz, Veracruz	86,659	2	VivaAerobús, Volaris

Busiest international routes from Guadalajara International Airport (2022)^[17]

Rank	City	Passengers	Ranking	Airline
1	Los Angeles	440,831		Aeroméxico, Alaska Airlines, VivaAerobús, Volaris
2	Chicago (Midway and O'Hare)^[Note 1]	223,030		Aeroméxico, VivaAerobús, Volaris
3	Dallas/FortWorth	184,670	1	American Airlines, Volaris
4	Houston	139,444	1	United Airlines, United Express, VivaAerobús, Volaris
5	Sacramento	128,277		Aeroméxico, Volaris
6	Fresno	119,561		Aeroméxico, Volaris
7	San Jose	99,252		Alaska Airlines, Volaris
8	Oakland	87,818	1	Volaris
9	Las Vegas	82,243	1	Volaris
10	Phoenix–Sky Harbor	74,124	2	American Airlines, American Eagle, Volaris
11	Seattle	58,991	1	Volaris
12	Ontario	55,913	2	Volaris
13	Portland	50,206		Volaris
14	San Francisco	45,250	2	Aeroméxico
15	Atlanta	40,670		Delta Air Lines

Notes

1. The official statistics include both Midway and O'Hare airports.

Local conflicts

The expansion projects have been delayed due to conflicts with the local residents. Also, several protests were made, blocking the parking lot access many times. These expansion projects include new and better access to the terminal, and it would take three years to build a second runway (including two years of land preparation and one to build the base and pave it). The locals argue that Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico has debts to the land where the airport sits on because of expropriation of land, which was taken from locals in 1975 to expand the airport.^[18] This terrain consists of the airport's polygon plus 320 hectares — of which 51 hectares will be used to build the second runway. Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico urged the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation to resolve the problems by delaying the airport's second runway construction. With this new runway and the expansion of the terminal building, the airport will be able to handle over 40 million passengers.^[19] If not negotiated the next step could be another expropriation to complete the project.

Accidents and incidents

• On June 2, 1958, Aeronaves de México Flight 111, a Lockheed L-749A Constellation (registration XA-MEV), crashed into La Latilla Mountain, 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the airport, shortly after takeoff for a flight to Mexico City, after the airliner's crew failed to follow the established climb-out procedure for the airport after taking off. The crash killed all 45 people on board, and two prominent American scientists – oceanographer Townsend Cromwell and fisheries scientist Bell M. Shimada – were among the dead. It was the deadliest aviation accident in Mexican history at the time.^[20][21][22]
• Aeroméxico Flight 498: On August 31, 1986 an Aeroméxico DC-9 that originated from Mexico City and stopped at Guadalajara, Loreto and Tijuana collided with a private aircraft while attempting to land at Los Angeles International Airport.
• On May 24, 1993, Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo, the Archbishop of Guadalajara, and six other people were killed in a shootout between rival drug cartels in the airport parking lot.^[23]
• On September 16, 1998, Continental Flight 475, a Boeing 737-524 registered N20643. Departed Houston at 20:56 for an IFR flight to Guadalajara. After executing a missed approach on their first ILS approach to runway 28, the flight was vectored for a second approach to runway 28. The second approach was reported by both pilots to be uneventful; however, after touchdown, the aircraft drifted to the left side of the runway. The left main landing gear exited the hard surface of the runway approximately 2700 feet from the threshold and eventually, all 3 landing gears exited the 197-foot wide asphalt runway, and all the passengers survived.

See also

•  Mexico portal
•  Aviation portal

• List of the busiest airports in Mexico

References

1. "Statistics by Airport" (Web). Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
2. "GAP Traffic Report 2022" (PDF). Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico. January 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
3. "Volaris cements Guadalajara as a hub" (Web). Milenio. April 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
4. "Guadalajara dio una Calurosa Recepción al Presidente. Gran Concurrencia en el Aeropuerto". El Informador (in Spanish). March 2, 1951. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
5. Golden, Tim (May 25, 1993). "Cardinal in Mexico Killed in a Shooting Tied to Drug Battle". The New York Times.
6. "Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta airports in line for major upgrades". Mexico News Daily. February 7, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
7. "Fly nonstop to Europe from Guadalajara". Aeroméxico. August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
8. Victoria Rodríguez, Karla (August 9, 2021). "Aeroméxico anuncia vuelo directo de Guadalajara a Madrid". Milenio (in Spanish). Retrieved August 9, 2021.
9. "AeroMéxico alista inicio de vuelos directos entre Guadalajara y Madrid". CE Noticias Financieras (in Spanish). August 9, 2021. ProQuest 2560030727.
10. Quarter Studios - Soluciones Digitales. "Aeropuerto de Guadalajara". Retrieved July 29, 2015.
11. "Aeromexico began selling flights on a dozen new routes in the United States". World Nation News Desk. October 2023. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
12. "These Are Our Destinations". Mexicana (in Spanish). October 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
13. "Viva Aerobus Bets Big on AIFA: 17 New Routes". Aviacionline. September 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
14. "Viva Aerobus announces new routes to Tulum". EnElAire (in Spanish). August 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
15. "Qatar Airways Cargo commences Macau-Guadalajara transpacific freighter service". Gulf Times Commercial Press. January 2019. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
16. Hangar Inn
17. "Estadística operacional por origen-destino / Traffic Statistics by City Pairs" (in Spanish). Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil. January 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
18. "Landowners continue their battle over Guadalajara airport land". Mexico News Daily. May 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
19. "Second runway urgent for Guadalajara". Mexico News Daily. October 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
20. "Accident". Aviation Safety Network. June 1958. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
21. "Bell Masayuki Shimada (1922-1958)". National Ocean Service. July 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
22. "NOAA Honors Nisei with Launch of Fisheries Vessel". Japanese American Veterans Association. December 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
23. Golden, Tim (May 25, 1993). "Cardinal in Mexico Killed in a Shooting Tied to Drug Battle". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2021.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to International airport of Guadalajara, Mexico.

• Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
• FlightAware U.S. airport activity to/from: Don Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla Int'l (MMGL)
• A-Z World Airports: Don Miguel Hidalgo Airport (GDL/MMGL)