General Francisco J. Mujica International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional General Francisco J. Mujica) or simply Morelia International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional de Morelia), is an international airport in

Álvaro Obregón Álvaro Obregón Salido (; 17 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) better known as Álvaro Obregón was a Sonoran-born general in the Mexican Revolution. A pragmatic centrist, natural soldier, and able politician, he became the 46th President of Me ...

, Michoacán,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, near

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and lar ...

. The airport handles national and international air traffic of the city of Morelia. The airport is named after the former governor of Michoacán,

Francisco José Múgica Francisco José Múgica Velázquez (3 September 1884 – 12 April 1954) was a Mexican military revolutionary, major general and politician. He participated in the Constituent Congress of 1917 that produced the Constitution of Mexico. Notable for ...

. General Francisco J. Mujica International Airport is the largest in the state of Michoacan. The longest route from Morelia is to Chicago, served by

Volaris Volaris, legally ''Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación S.A.P.I. de C.V.'', is a Mexican low-cost airline based in Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City l-888-Ʒ9Ʒ-I394 with its hubs in Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Tijuana, and focu ...

and

VivaAerobus Aeroenlaces Nacionales, S.A. de C.V., trading as Viva Aerobus, is a Mexican low-cost airline fully owned by the largest bus company group in Mexico, IAMSA, and was co-founded by and invested in by Irelandia Aviation. Based in Monterrey Internati ...

, while the shortest route is

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, served by

Aeroméxico Connect Aerolitoral, S.A. de C.V., DBA Aeroméxico Connect, and formerly known as Aerolitoral, is the regional airline of Aeroméxico operating Embraer E-190 aircraft, with crew bases in Mexico City and Monterrey. It is headquartered in Monterrey. It ...

. One of the fastest growing airports in the country, it handled 947,100 passengers in 2020 and 1,172,700 passengers in 2022, reaching the million passenger milestone for the first time that year.

History

The airport opened in 1984 and initially only had a daily flight with a

DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

to Mexico City. The airport has grown to become the largest in the state of Michoacán. In the past, the airport has been served by

Aero California Aero California (at times shortened as ''AeroCal'') was a low-cost airline with its headquarters in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, operating a network of domestic passenger flights with its hub at the city's Manuel Márquez de León Inte ...

, Aero Sudpacífico, Aeromar, Aviacsa,

Avolar Avolar Aerolíneas, S.A. de C.V. (sensational spelling of "a volar", roughly meaning "Let's fly") was a low-cost airline based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, with corporate offices in Tijuana. The airline operated a domestic network of 17 ...

Líneas Aéreas Azteca Líneas Aéreas Azteca was an airline based in Mexico City, Mexico. It operated domestic scheduled services and international services to the USA. Its main base was Mexico City International Airport, with a hub at General Abelardo L. Rodríg ...

Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...

(now United), Mexicana, TAESA, and

TAR Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bi ...

. Since May 2019, the airport has been remodeled which has resulted in an expansion of the terminal building. When completed, the check-in area will be relocated, more shops and restaurants will be added, as well as more baggage carousels and gate space.

has recently opened a crew base at the airport, to support its growing number of destinations between Morelia and cities in Mexico and the United States.

Airlines and destinations

Passengers

A Volaris A319 and an Aeromexico Connect Embraer 170 at Morelia International Airport tarmac

Airbus A320Neo and Airbus A320 of Volaris line up at Morelia Airport tarmac

Destinations map

Statistics

Passengers

Busiest routes

;Notes:

Accidents and incidents

*9 September 1978 - A de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter of Lineas Aéreas del Centro flying scheduled service to the old Morelia Airport from Mexico City, crashed shortly after takeoff from Mexico City International Airport. There were 18 fatalities among the 21 passengers. The aircraft was also damaged beyond repair. *20 October 2002 - Aerolíneas Internacionales Flight 888, a Boeing 727-100 scheduled to fly from Morelia to León/Guanajuato, allegedly encountered 9 small, spherical

UFOs An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are ide ...

prior to its 10AM takeoff roll. As reported by the crew and a witness on the ground, the

sighting Discovery is the act of detecting something new, or something previously unrecognized as meaningful. With reference to sciences and academic disciplines, discovery is the observation of new phenomena, new actions, or new events and providing ne ...

lasted around 10 minutes, with said objects maneuvering simultaneously. After the objects moved away, the flight was able to continue without further incident. *19 September 2010 -

Aeroméxico Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V. () operating as Aeroméxico (; stylized as AM), is the flag carrier airline of Mexico, based in Mexico City. It operates scheduled services to more than 90 destinations in Mexico; North, South and Central Ame ...

Flight 6531, bound to Morelia from

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, suffered a fuel leak. The Boeing 737-700 returned to Las Vegas for an emergency landing. There were no fatalities among the 102 passengers.

Gallery

Morelia Airport Check-In.jpg, Check-in Morelia Airport Departures.jpg, Waiting room VivaAerobus A320 at MLM.jpg, A

VivaAerobús Aeroenlaces Nacionales, S.A. de C.V., trading as Viva Aerobus, is a Mexican low-cost airline fully owned by the largest bus company group in Mexico, IAMSA, and was co-founded by and invested in by Irelandia Aviation. Based in Monterrey Internati ...

A320 parked at the platform. Morelia International Airport entrance.jpg, Front entrance A320NEO-MLM.jpg, A

A320neo (N530VL) parked at the platform.

References

External links

General Francisco Mujica International Airport

Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
{{Use dmy dates, date=May 2014 Airports in Michoacán

History

Airlines and destinations

Passengers

Destinations map

Statistics

Passengers

Busiest routes

Accidents and incidents

Gallery

See also

References

External links