Mazatlán International Airport (), officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional General Rafael Buelna'' (General Rafael Buelna International Airport; ), is an international airport located in

Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican list of states of Mexico, state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding , known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast across from th ...

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...

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 as the primary international gateway to Mazatlán, a popular Mexican tourist destination, offering flights to and from Mexico, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The airport also facilitates various tourism-related activities, flight training, 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 ...

. Owned by

Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte, S.A.B. de C.V., known as OMA, is a Mexican airport operator headquartered in San Pedro, near Monterrey, Mexico. It operates 13 airports in the central and northern states of Mexico, including that of Monterrey, ...

(OMA), it is named after Rafael Buelna, a military figure who played a significant role in the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

. Mazatlán Airport is the busiest in

for international passengers and ranks second to Culiacán International Airport for domestic operations. It serves as a gateway in a heavily traveled air corridor connecting mainland Mexico to the Baja California peninsula. In 2023, the airport handled 1,621,740 passengers, and this number increased to 1,868,817 in 2024, a 15.24% growth according to OMA.

Facilities

The airport is situated southeast of

, with an elevation 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 ...

. It has a single

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 08/26, which is long and surfaced with

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

. 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 ...

features ten parking positions intended for

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

aircraft, located around two terminal satellites. Additionally, the general aviation apron provides parking spaces and

heliports A heliport is a small airport which has a helipad, suitable for use by helicopters, Powered lift, powered lift, and various types of VTOL, vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff area ...

for private aviation.

Passenger terminal

The passenger terminal accommodates both arrival and departure services for domestic and international flights within a two-story main building and two satellite terminals. The ground floor of the main building includes

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 ...

areas and an arrivals section featuring customs and immigration facilities, a baggage claim area, and an arrivals hall. Here, passengers can access car rental services, taxi stands, snack bars, and souvenir shops. The upper floor of the main building houses the security checkpoint and a departure area equipped with a food court, duty-free shops, a VIP lounge, and a transit zone. The gates are located in two satellite buildings, designated A and B, which are connected to the main terminal via a walkway. Satellite A serves domestic flights and features waiting areas with shops and food stands. It has four gates: gates 7 and 9 are located on the top floor and are equipped with

jet bridges A jet bridge is an enclosed connector which most commonly extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, and in some instances from a port to a boat or ship, allowing passengers to board and disembark without heading outside and being exp ...

, while gates 6, 8, and 10 are located on the ground floor, where passengers board their aircraft directly from the apron. Airlines operating from this satellite include Aeromexico, Aeromexico Connect, Viva Aerobus,

Volaris Volaris (legally ''Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación S.A.B. de C.V.'') is a Mexican low-cost airline based in Santa Fe, Mexico City, Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City with its operating bases in Canc ...

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 b ...

, Magni, Calafia Airlines, and Aero Servicio Guerrero. Satellite B serves international flights, primarily from U.S. American and Canadian airlines. It features sitting areas, food stands, and duty-free shops. This Satellite also features four gates (gates 1-5), with two of them equipped with

. Airlines operating from Satellite B include

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the fifth-largest airline in North America when measured by scheduled passengers carried, as of 2024. Alaska, togethe ...

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

, American Eagle,

Sun Country Airlines Sun Country Airlines is an ultra-low cost airline in the United States. Based at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport with headquarters on airport property, Sun Country operates to about 140 destinations in the United States, Canad ...

United Express United Express is a regional airline network that supports United Airlines operations, primarily by serving smaller cities and connecting traffic to United's main hubs. Representing six percent of United's total capacity for 2024, United Express ...

, and

Westjet WestJet Airlines, is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in 1994, it is the second-largest airline in Canada and the eighth-largest airline in North America by frequency. It began operations in 1996 with 220 employee ...

Other facilities

Adjacent to the terminal, other facilities include civil aviation hangars, cargo and logistics and courier companies, and designated spaces for general aviation. The parking facility provides both short-term and long-term parking spaces. Mazatlán Area Control Center (ACC) is one of four Area Control Centres in Mexico, with the others being the Mexico City ACC, Monterrey ACC, and Mérida ACC. It operates under the Mexican Airspace Navigation Services, (). Mazatlán ACC provides air traffic control services to aircraft within the Mazatlán Flight Data Region (FDRG). This region includes the entire Baja California Peninsula, 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 ...

, the northern

Pacific Coast of Mexico The Pacific Coast of Mexico or West Coast of Mexico stretches along the coasts of western Mexico at the Pacific Ocean and its Gulf of California, Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). Geography Baja California peninsula On the western Baja Califor ...

, the states of

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 ...

and

, and western sections of Chihuahua,

Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...

, and

Nayarit Nayarit, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in Municipalities of Nayarit, 20 municipalit ...

. It shares its boundaries with six other Area Control Centers. To the east, it is adjacent to the Monterrey ACC and Mexico ACC, while to the north, it borders the Los Angeles ARTCC and

Albuquerque ARTCC Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZAB) (radio communications: Albuquerque Center) is located at 8000 Louisiana Boulevard, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. The Albuquerque ARTCC is one of 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers in th ...

. To the west, it borders the

Oakland Oceanic ARTCC Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZOA), (radio communications, "Oakland Center") is one of 22 Area Control Centers in the United States. It is located at 5125 Central Ave, Fremont, California, roughly 25 miles southeast of downtown Oaklan ...

(KZAK) and Mazatlán Oceanic (MMFO) Flight Information Regions (FIR). Additionally, the Mazatlan Oceanic Air Control Center (

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

: MMFO) is located at the Mazatlán Airport. This center is responsible for providing air traffic control services within its Flight Information Region (FIR), which is one of two FIRs in Mexico, covering a significant portion of the

North Pacific Ocean North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' ...

and spanning . Its borders include the

(KZAK) to the West, the Mexico FIR (MMFR) to the east, and the Central American FIR (MHTG) to the south.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Gallery

File:Interior del Aeropuerto Internacional de Mazatlán, 19 de julio de 2023.jpg, Passenger terminal File:Aeropuerto Internacional de Mazatlán, 26 de junio de 2023.jpg, Terminal entrance File:Pasajeros en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Mazatlán, 19 de julio de 2023 08.jpg, Check-in area File:Interior del Aeropuerto Internacional de Mazatlán, 19 de julio de 2023 03.jpg, The main corridor at the terminal File:Hertz, Aeropuerto Internacional de Mazatlán, 26 de junio de 2023 02.jpg, Arrivals hall File:Pago del estacionamiento en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Mazatlán, 26 de junio de 2023 03.jpg, Arrivals hall File:Estacionamiento en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Mazatlán, 19 de julio de 2023 05.jpg, Parking lot File:Estacionamiento en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Mazatlán, 19 de julio de 2023.jpg, Main entrance File:MZT terminal1.JPG, Terminal airside File:MZT international.JPG, Satellite B File:Letras de MZT en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Mazatlán, 26 de junio de 2023 03.jpg, Airport entrance File:Mazatlán International Airport.jpg, Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 at MZT File:XA-VAV.jpg, VivaAerobus Airbus A320-232 at MZT

Destinations map

Statistics

Passengers

Busiest routes

References

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 ...

Mexican Air Traffic Control Services
*
Servicios a la Navegación en el Espacio Aéreo Mexicano
'
Tourism in Mazatlán
{{authority control Airports in Mexico Airports in Sinaloa Air traffic control centers Transportation in Sinaloa Tourist attractions in Sinaloa

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

Facilities

Passenger terminal

Other facilities

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Gallery

Destinations map

Statistics

Passengers

Busiest routes

See also

References

External links