Private aviation in Los Cabos on the rise: Every month 10 thousand visitors arrive on private flights
Private aviation to Los Cabos continues to be a revelation, with a 30% growth and visitors with very high purchasing power; so much so, that spaces had to be expanded for private aircraft.
Los Cabos has positioned itself as a premium destination internationally, and the economic recovery despite the Covid-19 pandemic has been an important factor for the development of tourism activities. The tourism of high purchasing power has a particularity since it makes use of executive aviation services or private aviation.
According to the Los Cabos Tourism Trust (Fiturca), private aviation has grown exponentially in Los Cabos' international airports. So far this year, it is estimated that at least 10 thousand tourists per month arrive in private planes or executive flights. Some of them are in their aircraft. Compared to previous years, such as 2019, 2021 registers 200 percent more business aviation operations. This is underpinned by the excellence in luxury services in Los Cabos, but also by the airport infrastructure and ground services made for business aviation.
Most of the visitors arriving in Los Cabos are of international origin, they are arriving vaccinated and almost all of them come from the United States, and although the sanitary protocols are still being maintained, the risk of contagion is much lower, and it is still mandatory to have a negative Covid-19 test before returning to the North American country: This situation, instead of affecting, gives more guarantee to the tourist activity.
Private aviation in Los Cabos continues to be a revelation, with a growth of 30% month after month and with a segment of visitors of very high purchasing power; so much so, that in the case of the San José airport, spaces had to be expanded for private aircraft.
During the pandemic, a new business model emerged with companies that are offering a hybrid system in which the entire plane does not necessarily have to be rented but the seat is sold; to date, 4 airlines offer this scheme, all departing from private airports in Los Angeles and with the guarantee that passengers will not go through crowds and will fly in smaller planes than the commercial ones, up to 30 seats.
In 2020, 1 million international tourists arrived in Los Cabos, 66,000 of which were on private flights; currently, an average of 1,500 arrive each month at the San Lucas airport and 4,500 at the San Jose airport, with 25 operations per day in the first case and 70 in the second. Flights from Los Cabos to Canada are expected to resume in June.
Another effect of the pandemic is the emergence of a new market segment in private aviation that until before the sanitary emergency was practically only for super millionaires; in the last months it has been democratized to allow groups of friends that have been isolated to avoid contagion can now travel with this scheme, arriving at Villas with capacity for between 8 and 10 people, living outdoors, playing golf or sport fishing; it helps that the government of the United States has offered stimuli and money to its citizens during the sanitary emergency, which has allowed them to save money to travel.
