Puerto Peñasco International Airport (); officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional Mar de Cortés'' (Mar de Cortés International Airport) is an international airport located in

Puerto Peñasco Puerto Peñasco () is a small city located in Puerto Peñasco Municipality in the northwest of the Mexican state of Sonora, from the border with the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 62,689 inhabitants. ...

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It serves domestic flights and

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

activities in Puerto Peñasco. The airport is owned by

Grupo Vidanta Grupo Vidanta is a Mexican conglomerate involved in design, construction, financing, and operation and maintenance of hotels, resorts, cruises, and associated infrastructure. It also owns and operates the Mar de Cortés International Airport. Gr ...

. It derives its name from Mar de Cortés (Sea of Cortés), a common term in Spanish for the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...

. Puerto Peñasco Airport stands as the first fully privately funded airport in Mexico. In 2021, it recorded 1,886 passengers, as reported by the ''Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil'' (Mexican Federal Aviation Administration).

History

The initial airfield in Puerto Peñasco commenced operations in the 1940s, primarily serving as a stopover on Mexicana de Aviación's route from

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the States of Mexico, Mexican state of Baja California. The city, which is the seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali, Cale ...

and featuring a telegraph office. In 1973, a larger airfield with a small terminal was established, achieving official international airport status in 1994. Before this designation, pilots had to navigate immigration and customs processes in Nogales or

. In 2005,

carried out significant enhancements at the older airfield, investing in runway and ramp repaving, terminal expansion, parking facilities, perimeter fencing, and improved signage. Simultaneously, a more expansive commercial airport was developed 10 miles east of the existing airfield. The current airport was inaugurated on November 5, 2009, and officially opened to the public on October 31, 2009, serving as a Mexican Airport of Entry (M-AOE). Consequently, the original airfield ceased operations. Over the years, the airport has experienced intermittent service by regional airlines, offering seasonal flights within the region.

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

served the route

Hermosillo Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the state's ...

-Puerto Peñasco-

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

from 2013 to 2014.

TAR Aerolíneas Link Conexión Aérea, S.A. de C.V., operating as TAR México, previously ''TAR Aerolíneas'', is a Mexican regional airline based in the city of Querétaro, the capital city of the homonymous state. It operates scheduled flights to 34 national ...

provided domestic flights in 2016. Aéreo Servicio Guerrero also offered services to Hermosillo, and Calafia Airlines to

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

, and Loreto.

Facilities

The airport is situated in La Jolla de Cortés, a 15-minute drive from Puerto Peñasco city center. It is located 5 minutes from major hotel and condominium developments along the Sea of Cortés. Covering an area of at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of above

mean sea level A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...

, the airport features a single

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

, designated as 18/36. This runway spans in length and is wide, marking it as the fourth runway in Mexico entirely constructed with concrete provided by

Cemex CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V., known as Cemex, is a Mexican multinational building materials company headquartered in San Pedro, near Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. It manufactures and distributes cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates in more than ...

. The airport received the prize ''Premio Obras Cemex'' in 2007. The commercial aviation

apron An apron is a garment worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body to protect from liquids. They have several purposes, most commonly as a functional accessory that protects clothes and skin from stains and marks. However, other typ ...

offers three parking positions for

narrow-body aircraft A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast seating in a cabin less than in width. In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner usually configured with m ...

and additional stands for

. The passenger terminal, a single-story structure, serves both domestic arrivals and departures. It comprises a

check-in Check-in is the process whereby people announce their arrival at an office, hotel, airport, hospital, port, seaport or event. Office check-in Many offices have a reception or front office area near the entrance to greet or assist visitors arriv ...

area, a security checkpoint, and an arrivals hall equipped with baggage claim facilities, car rental services, and taxi stands. The departures concourse houses two gates with direct access to the apron, allowing passengers to board planes by walking directly to the aircraft. Adjacent facilities include parking areas, civil aviation

hangars A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

, administration offices, courier and logistics facilities, as well as facilities for general aviation.

References

External links

*
Official Website

* *
Accident history for PPE
at

Aviation Safety Network The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit, international organization concerning research, education, advocacy, and communications in the field of aviation safety. FSF brings together aviation professionals to help solve safety problems ...

Puerto Peñasco Airport information
at Great Circle Mapper {{DEFAULTSORT:Mar de Cortes International Airport Airports in Mexico Airports in Sonora Transportation in Sonora Tourist attractions in Sonora Gulf of California Airports established in 2009 2009 establishments in Mexico

History

Facilities

See also

References

External links