Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional de Guadalajara Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
GDL Airport Front View
IATA: GDL ICAO: MMGL
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
Operator	Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
Serves	Guadalajara, Jalisco
Location	Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Jalisco
Hub for	Volaris
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
Guadalajara airport diagram
GDL Location in Jalisco Show map of Jalisco GDL Location in Mexico Show map of 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
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: GDL, ICAO: 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

Airport's Main entrance.

Terminal Map

Main Corridor at the airport.

Concourse A at the Airport.

Concourse D (Now Concourse C) at the airport.

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.

Terminal interior

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Amenities

Restaurants

• Burger King
• California Pizza Kitchen
• Carl's Jr.
• Chili's
• Corner Bar
• De Volada Grab N' Go
• El Quijote
• Fronteras Bar
• Guacamole Mexican Grill
• Johnny Rockets
• Krispy Kreme
• La Pausa
• Los Tres Amigos Tacos
• Medas
• Natural Break
• Sbarro
• Starbucks
• Subway
• Wings

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
2011	7,154,959	3.41%
2012	7,389,897	3.28%
2013	8,104,762	9.67%
2014	8,695,183	7.28%
2015	9,758,516	12.22%
2016	11,362,552	16.43%
2017	12,779,874	12.47%
2018	14,340,152	12.21%
2019	14,823,592	3.37%
2020	8,125,600	45.40%
2021	12,243,000	50.7%
2022	15,606,600	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		Aeromar, Aeroméxico, Aeroméxico Connect, VivaAerobús, Volaris
2	Baja California, Tijuana	1,141,397		Aeroméxico, Magni, VivaAerobús, Volaris
3	Quintana Roo, Cancún	498,367		Magni, VivaAerobús, Volaris
4	Nuevo León, Monterrey	448,797		VivaAerobús, Volaris
5	Baja California, Mexicali	235,208		Volaris
6	Baja California Sur, Los Cabos	217,405		Calafia Airlines, VivaAerobús, Volaris
7	Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez	204,822	1	TAR, VivaAerobús, Volaris
8	Sonora, Hermosillo	193,642	1	Interjet, VivaAerobús, Volaris
9	Sinaloa, Culiacán	148,449		VivaAerobús, Volaris
10	Baja California Sur, La Paz	132,692		Aeromar, Calafia Airlines, VivaAerobús, Volaris
11	Yucatán, Mérida	122,957	1	VivaAerobús, Volaris
12	Chihuahua, Chihuahua	115,197	1	VivaAerobús, Volaris
13	Jalisco, Puerto Vallarta	104,039	1	Aeromar, TAR, VivaAerobús
14	Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez	92,464	1	VivaAerobús, Volaris
15	Veracruz, Veracruz	86,659	2	VivaAerobús, Volaris

Busiest international routes from Guadalajara International Airport (2022)

Rank	City	Passengers	Ranking	Airline
1	United States, Los Angeles	440,831		Aeroméxico, Alaska Airlines, VivaAerobús, Volaris
2	United States, Chicago (Midway and O'Hare)	223,030		Aeroméxico, VivaAerobús, Volaris
3	United States, Dallas/FortWorth	184,670	1	American Airlines, Volaris
4	United States, Houston	139,444	1	United Airlines, United Express, VivaAerobús, Volaris
5	United States, Sacramento	128,277		Aeroméxico, Volaris
6	United States, Fresno	119,561		Aeroméxico, Volaris
7	United States, San Jose	99,252		Alaska Airlines, Volaris
8	United States, Oakland	87,818	1	Volaris
9	United States, Las Vegas	82,243	1	Volaris
10	United States, Phoenix–Sky Harbor	74,124	2	American Airlines, American Eagle, Volaris
11	United States, Seattle	58,991	1	Volaris
12	United States, Ontario	55,913	2	Volaris
13	United States, Portland	50,206		Volaris
14	United States, San Francisco	45,250	2	Aeroméxico
15	United States, Atlanta	40,670		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

• List of the busiest airports in Mexico