Tuxtla Gutiérrez International Airport facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tuxtla Gutiérrez International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional de Tuxtla Gutiérrez
IATA: TGZ ICAO: MMTG
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Grupo Aeroportuario de Chiapas
Serves	Tuxtla Gutiérrez
Location	Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico
Elevation AMSL	457 m / 1,499 ft
Coordinates	16°33′49″N 093°01′21″W / 16.56361°N 93.02250°W / 16.56361; -93.02250
Map
TGZ Location in Chiapas Show map of Chiapas TGZ Location in Mexico Show map of Mexico
Runway
Runway Length Surface m ft 14/32 2,500 8,202 Concrete
Statistics (2022)
Aircraft Operations 15,723 Total Passengers 1,590,178 Ranking in Mexico 14th
Source: Grupo Aeroportuario de Chiapas

The Ángel Albino Corzo International Airport (IATA: TGZ, ICAO: MMTG) is a big airport in Mexico. It is also known as Tuxtla Gutiérrez International Airport. This airport serves the area of Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas. It helps people travel by air to Tuxtla Gutiérrez and other parts of central Chiapas. This includes the popular place for tourists, San Cristóbal de las Casas.

The airport was opened on June 27, 2006. The president at that time, Vicente Fox, and the state's governor, Pablo Salazar Mendiguchía, were there. It took the place of an older airport called Francisco Sarabia National Airport. A company owned by the government, Grupo Aeroportuario de Chiapas, runs the airport.

Airport History: How It Started

The first airport for Tuxtla Gutiérrez opened in 1957. It was in a place called Terán. This airport was small and had some limits. In 1980, flights moved to the Llano San Juan airport. But this new spot often had fog and strong winds. This made it hard for planes to land and take off. Even with new systems and a second runway, the problems continued. So, by the late 1990s, the old Terán Airport had to be used again for a short time.

Building a New Airport for More Flights

As the 21st century began, Tuxtla Gutiérrez needed a much better airport. The old ones could not handle all the flights. So, on June 27, 2006, the new Ángel Albino Corzo Airport opened. It was built in Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas. Building it cost about 825 million pesos. The government helped pay for it. After this new airport opened, the Terán airport became a military base. The Llano San Juan airport stopped all flights.

The first commercial flight to land at the new airport was Aviacsa flight 234. It was a Boeing 737 plane. It came from Tapachula. The first flight to take off from the new airport went to Mexico City.

Becoming an International Airport

Even though it was called an international airport from the start, it officially became one on July 21, 2008. The first international flight that was not commercial landed on September 7, 2008. It brought the Canadian national football team. They were in Mexico to play a game against the Mexican team.

In November 2014, plans were made to make the airport bigger. The goal was to let it handle more passengers each month. The next year, in 2015, the airport reached a big milestone. It welcomed its "one millionth" passenger for the first time. This passenger was on Interjet flight 2601.

The biggest plane to ever visit the airport was a Mexican Air Force Boeing 787-8. This happened on August 7, 2017. In October 2020, the airport got even bigger. New areas for walking and shopping were built. Four new gates and a new area for planes were added.

Airport Features and Capacity

The airport was first made to handle 350 flights each day. It could also serve 850,000 passengers every year. It has a concrete runway and a parallel taxiway for planes. There are also several hangars and areas for commercial and general aviation. There is even a military base.

The main building is a modern terminal. It has six glass jetways. These are bridges that connect the airport to the plane. Two of these jetways are big enough for large planes. These include planes like the Boeing 767 and Airbus A330. To make the airport even better, the company running it spent 440 million Mexican pesos. They wanted to make all parts of the airport larger and more modern. This work finished in December 2020. The airport building grew by 140%. It now has 22,472 square meters of space. It also has 8 jetways for planes.

Airport Traffic: How Many People Fly?

The Civil Aviation Federal Agency (AFAC) keeps track of how many people use the airport. In 2021, the airport served 1,186,528 passengers. In 2022, this number grew to 1,590,178 passengers. This was a big increase of over 34%. This airport is the largest in the southwestern part of Mexico. It is also one of the top 15 busiest airports in the country. The airport first reached one million passengers on November 28, 2015.

Airlines and Destinations

Currently, the airport connects to 6 regular places in Mexico. It also connects to 1 place in Central America. Five different airlines fly from here. For example, Volaris announced new flights to Mexicali and León/El Bajío starting in July 2023.

Passenger Flights

Destinations Map

Busiest Routes

These are the routes with the most passengers at Tuxtla Gutiérrez International Airport in 2022.

Busiest routes at Tuxtla Gutiérrez International Airport (2022)

Rank	City	Passengers	Ranking	Airline
1	Mexico City, Mexico City	475,053		Aeroméxico, Aeroméxico Connect, VivaAerobús, Volaris
2	Jalisco, Guadalajara	95,601		VivaAerobús, Volaris
3	Quintana Roo, Cancún	94,225	1	VivaAerobús, Volaris
4	Nuevo León, Monterrey	70,768	1	Magni, VivaAerobús
5	Baja California, Tijuana	43,264	1	Volaris
6	Yucatán, Mérida	27,180	1	VivaAerobús
7	Guatemala, Guatemala City	3,608		Transportes Aéreos Guatemaltecos

Images for kids

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  An Interjet A320 plane on the tarmac.

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  An OCC bus at the airport.

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  The last waiting hall at the Airport.

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  Inside the Airport.

See also

In Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de Tuxtla para niños

• List of the busiest airports in Mexico