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
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGrupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
OperatorGrupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
ServesGuadalajara, Jalisco
LocationTlajomulco de Zúñiga, Jalisco
Hub for
Elevation AMSL1,529 m / 5,016 ft
Coordinates20°31′18″N 103°18′40″W
Maps

Guadalajara airport diagram
GDL is located in Jalisco
GDL
GDL
Location of airport in Mexico
GDL is located in Mexico
GDL
GDL
GDL (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 passengers15,606,600
Ranking in Mexico3rd Steady
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
AirlinesDestinations
Aeroméxico Chicago–O'Hare, Fresno, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Mexico City–AIFA, Sacramento, San Francisco,
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
AirlinesDestinations
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

Car rental

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
20106,918,621Steady
20117,154,959Increase 3.41%
20127,389,897Increase 3.28%
20138,104,762Increase 9.67%
20148,695,183Increase 7.28%
20159,758,516Increase 12.22%
201611,362,552Increase 16.43%
201712,779,874Increase 12.47%
201814,340,152Increase 12.21%
201914,823,592Increase 3.37%
20208,125,600Decrease 45.40%
202112,243,000Increase 50.7%
202215,606,600Increase 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 Steady Aeromar, Aeroméxico, Aeroméxico Connect, VivaAerobús, Volaris
2  Baja California, Tijuana 1,141,397 Steady Aeroméxico, Magni, VivaAerobús, Volaris
3  Quintana Roo, Cancún 498,367 Steady Magni, VivaAerobús, Volaris
4  Nuevo León, Monterrey 448,797 Steady VivaAerobús, Volaris
5  Baja California, Mexicali 235,208 Steady Volaris
6  Baja California Sur, Los Cabos 217,405 Steady Calafia Airlines, VivaAerobús, Volaris
7  Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez 204,822 Increase 1 TAR, VivaAerobús, Volaris
8  Sonora, Hermosillo 193,642 Decrease 1 Interjet, VivaAerobús, Volaris
9  Sinaloa, Culiacán 148,449 Steady VivaAerobús, Volaris
10  Baja California Sur, La Paz 132,692 Steady Aeromar, Calafia Airlines, VivaAerobús, Volaris
11  Yucatán, Mérida 122,957 Increase 1 VivaAerobús, Volaris
12  Chihuahua, Chihuahua 115,197 Decrease 1 VivaAerobús, Volaris
13  Jalisco, Puerto Vallarta 104,039 Increase 1 Aeromar, TAR, VivaAerobús
14  Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez 92,464 Increase 1 VivaAerobús, Volaris
15  Veracruz, Veracruz 86,659 Decrease 2 VivaAerobús, Volaris
Busiest international routes from Guadalajara International Airport (2022)[17]
Rank City Passengers Ranking Airline
1 United States Los Angeles 440,831 Steady Aeroméxico, Alaska Airlines, VivaAerobús, Volaris
2 United States Chicago (Midway and O'Hare)[Note 1] 223,030 Steady Aeroméxico, VivaAerobús, Volaris
3 United States Dallas/FortWorth 184,670 Increase 1 American Airlines, Volaris
4 United States Houston 139,444 Decrease 1 United Airlines, United Express, VivaAerobús, Volaris
5 United States Sacramento 128,277 Steady Aeroméxico, Volaris
6 United States Fresno 119,561 Steady Aeroméxico, Volaris
7 United States San Jose 99,252 Steady Alaska Airlines, Volaris
8 United States Oakland 87,818 Increase 1 Volaris
9 United States Las Vegas 82,243 Increase 1 Volaris
10 United States Phoenix–Sky Harbor 74,124 Decrease 2 American Airlines, American Eagle, Volaris
11 United States Seattle 58,991 Increase 1 Volaris
12 United States Ontario 55,913 Decrease 2 Volaris
13 United States Portland 50,206 Steady Volaris
14 United States San Francisco 45,250 Increase 2 Aeroméxico
15 United States Atlanta 40,670 Steady 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

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.
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