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Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport facts for kids

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Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport

Aeropuerto Internacional de Guadalajara Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
Aeropuerto de Guadalajara 3.jpg
GDL Airport Front View
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
Operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
Serves Guadalajara, Jalisco
Location Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Jalisco
Hub for
Focus city for
  • VivaAerobús
Aeromexico
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
Aeropuerto Internacional de Guadalajara location map.png
Guadalajara airport diagram
GDL is located in Jalisco
GDL
GDL
Location in Jalisco
GDL is located in Mexico
GDL
GDL
Location in Mexico
Runway
Runway 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 Steady
Source: Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico

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: GDLICAO: MMGL), is the main airport of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico's third-largest city. Opened in 1966, it is located 16 km south of the city center. In 2021, it handled 12,243,000 passengers, and 15,606,600 in 2022, an increase of 30.6%. It is Latin America's ninth- and Mexico's third-busiest airport, after Mexico City International Airport and Cancún International Airport, and second-busiest for cargo flights.

Guadalajara's International Airport consists of two runways and one terminal. A major airport for connections, it became a hub for Volaris and its primary gateway to the United States. It is also a focus city for Aeroméxico and VivaAerobus. Flights are offered to destinations within Mexico and to Central America, the United States and Spain. In addition, cargo flights are offered to many destinations, including countries in Asia and Europe.

The airport is named for Miguel Hidalgo, who began the war that brought Mexican independence from Spain. He has been called the "father of Mexican independence".

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.

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. Additionally, the airport aims to expand services to the United States as well as Europe. 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. The Guadalajara airport gained its first nonstop link to Europe in December 2021. Aeroméxico introduced flights to Madrid on a Boeing 787.

Terminals

Fachada del Aeropuerto de Guadalajara
Airport's Main entrance.
Guadalajara Airport Map 2022
Terminal Map
GDL 2
Main Corridor at the airport.
MMGLA3
Concourse A at the Airport.
GDL Airport Departure gates
Concourse D (Now Concourse C) at the airport.
AGDL6
Local baggage claim.

Passenger terminal

The Passenger Terminal, or Terminal 1, is used by all airlines for international and domestic flights. 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 6 positions that can handle any kind of major aircraft.

Aeropuerto de Guadalajara 8
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 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


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, Monterrey, Puebla, Puerto Vallarta, Reynosa, Tijuana, 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 (begins September 22, 2023)

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 Doha, Liege


TUM AeroCarga Hermosillo, Tijuana, Toluca, Reynosa


UPS Airlines Louisville

Amenities

Restaurants

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

VIP Lounges

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

Statistics

Passengers

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

Busiest routes

Busiest domestic routes from Guadalajara International Airport (2022)
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)
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) 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

Local conflicts

Recently, the expansion projects are being 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 3 years to build a 2nd runway (includes 2 years of land preparation and 1 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. This terrain consists of the airport's polygon plus 320 hectares — of which 51 hectares will be used to build the 2nd runway. Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico urged the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation to resolve the problems by delaying the airport's 2nd runway construction. With this new runway and the expansion of the terminal building, the airport will be able to handle over 40 million passengers. If not negotiated the next step could be another expropriation to complete the project.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de Guadalajara para niños

  • List of the busiest airports in Mexico
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