Querétaro Intercontinental Airport
Querétaro Intercontinental Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Intercontinental de Querétaro, IATA: QRO, ICAO: MMQT) is an international airport located in the municipalities of Colón and El Marqués, Querétaro, Mexico. It handles the national and international air traffic of the Metropolitan area of Querétaro and can also be used as an alternate airport to Mexico City International Airport. It replaced the Ing. Fernando Espinoza Gutiérrez International Airport, which is no longer operational.
Querétaro Intercontinental Airport Aeropuerto Intercontinental de Querétaro | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | Queretaro State Government | ||||||||||
| Serves | Querétaro, Querétaro, Mexico | ||||||||||
| Location | Colón and El Marqués | ||||||||||
| Opened | 28 November 2004 | ||||||||||
| Hub for | TAR Aerolineas | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 6,290 ft / 1,969 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 20°37′02.5″N 100°11′08.4″W [1] | ||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  QRO  QRO | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2022) | |||||||||||
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Source: Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil[2] | |||||||||||
Queretaro Airport is the primary hub of the regional airline TAR Aerolineas.[3] It is one of the fastest-growing airports in the country, handling 817,791 passengers in 2021, and 1,151,602 passengers in 2022, an increase of 40.82%.[2] It ranks as Mexico's fourth-largest for cargo operations and the tenth-largest for aircraft operations.[4]
It is home to the Querétaro Aerospace Cluster, the fastest-growing hub for aerospace in the country and a cargo hub offering cargo flights to Mexico, the United States and Europe. Defunct cargo airline Regional Cargo had its headquarters on the airport property. The airport operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with less than 0.5% closures due to weather conditions.[5]
History
The previous airport in Queretaro was Ing. Fernando Espinosa Gutiérrez Airport. It started activities in 1955 as a civilian aerodrome and in 1986 the State Government decided to expand it and granted a concession for its operation to the state-owned entity "Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares" (ASA). In 1992, scheduled commercial flights began with the airline Aerolitoral, and by 1993, Aeromar joined with regular flights. Finally, in 1997, it was declared an International Airport, reaching 110,000 passengers and 11,000 operations by 2003.
Preparations began in 1999 for a new airport located 12 min (19km) east of the old facilities. On July 12th, 2002, the construction process was initiated and the new Querétaro Intercontinental Airport began operations on November 28th, 2004, through a partnership between the state government of Querétaro and Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares (ASA), replacing operations that were previously conducted at the Queretaro-Ing. Fernando Espinosa Gutiérrez Airport in the capital of the state of Querétaro. It attracted commercial, private, and cargo operations, as well as some of the equipment and human resources that previously operated there.[6]
On August 31st 2012, Aeromexico and Delta Air Lines announced that they would be building a maintenance base at Querétaro International Airport. In 2018 the terminal building was renovated.[5]
Querétaro Aerospace Cluster
In 2012, eight years after the inauguration of the city's Intercontinental Airport, a group of multinational corporations that included Airbus, Delta and Bombardier joined forces with local entrepreneurs, research centres and educational institutions to form an innovation cluster.[7] Since establishing a manufacturing facility in Mexico in 2006, Bombardier has developed a state-of-the-art facility in Querétaro that employs highly skilled teams to manufacture key structural components for the company’s leading business jets, including the rear fuselage for all Global aircraft.[8] In 2007 the University of Aeronautics of Querétaro[9] was founded, this is the country's sole university specializing in the aerospace industry. Queretaro’s aerospace industry has been growing steadily during the past years.[10]
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aeroméxico | Mexico City |
| Aeroméxico Connect | Detroit (resumes January 8, 2024),[11] Mexico City, Monterrey |
| American Airlines | Dallas/Fort Worth |
| Magni | Seasonal: Cancún |
| TAR | Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Mazatlán, Monterrey, Puerto Vallarta, Tampico, Toluca/Mexico City, Torreón/Gómez Palacio |
| United Airlines | Houston–Intercontinental |
| United Express | Houston–Intercontinental |
| Viva Aerobus | Cancún, Houston–Intercontinental (begins December 2, 2023),[12] Mérida, Monterrey, San Antonio (begins December 1, 2023),[13] San José del Cabo |
| Volaris | Cancún, Chicago–O'Hare, Ciudad Juárez, Culiacán, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Mexicali, Puerto Vallarta, San José del Cabo, Tijuana |
_JP7008157_(cropped).jpg.webp)
Cargo
Destinations map
| Destinations map |
|---|
Querétaro Domestic destinations from Querétaro Intercontinental Airport Red = Year-round destination Blue = Future destination Orange = Cargo and passenger destination |
International destinations from Queretaro Intercontinental Airport Red = Year-round destination Blue = Future destination Green = Seasonal/charter destination Italic = Suspended passenger destination |
Ground transportation information
The terminal does not have public transportation service to the city of Queretaro. The parking facility provides both short-term and long-term parking spaces.
- Intercity bus: Bus company Primera Plus used to have a ticket counter at the airport, which has been closed for a while. An airport taxi from the airport to Querétaro Central Bus Station is about $20. From there travelers can take another bus to any part of Mexico.
- Taxi: Travellers wishing to take a taxi or van to Querétaro (around US$25) and other cities can take the airport taxi. Some travellers have arranged for a ride beforehand with one of the many shuttle services listed on San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato tourist websites. The average price is about $30 to 40 per person.
- Car rental: Hertz and Budget have rental counters at the airport.
Statistics
Busiest routes
| Rank | City | Passengers | Ranking | Airline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Quintana Roo, Cancún |
112,306 |  1 |
Magni, VivaAerobús, Volaris |
| 2 |  Nuevo León, Monterrey |
106,723 |  1 |
Aeroméxico Connect, TAR, VivaAerobús |
| 3 |  Mexico City, Mexico City |
93,462 |  |
Aeroméxico Connect |
| 4 |  United States, Dallas/Fort Worth |
90,938 |  |
American Airlines |
| 5 | United States, Houston |
62,625 | |
United Airlines, United Express |
| 6 |  Baja California, Tijuana |
30,030 | 2 |
Aeroméxico Connect, Volaris |
| 7 |  Jalisco, Puerto Vallarta |
27,594 | |
TAR, Volaris |
| 8 | United States, Chicago |
7,428 | |
Volaris |
| 9 |  Coahuila, Torreón |
7,386 | 1 |
TAR |
| 10 |  Sinaloa, Mazatlán |
6,278 | 1 |
TAR |
References
- "Instalaciones". AIQ.com.mx (in Spanish). Aeropuerto Intercontinental de Querétaro. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
Coordenadas 20°37'2.5485"N y 100°11'8.4133"W
- "Estadística Operativa de Aeropuertos / Statistics by Airport 2006-2022". Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- Mexico. "TAR Aerolineas". LinkedIn. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
- "Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil. Retrieved January 26, 2023".
- "Aeropuerto de Querétaro: Un referente internacional por sus extraordinarios logros".
- "History".
- "Latin America", UNESCO Science Report 2021, United Nations, pp. 200–233, 2 August 2021, ISBN 978-92-1-005857-5, retrieved 26 September 2023
- "Bombardier Celebrates 15-year Anniversary of its Querétaro, Mexico, Site as Facility Delivers the 100th Global 7500 Aircraft Rear Fuselage".
- Universidad Nacional Aeronáutica en Querétaro
- "Queretaro: Growing Aerospace Hub".
- "Aeromexico began selling flights on a dozen new routes in the United States". World Nation News Desk. October 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- "Viva Aerobus 2024 US Network Expansion". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- "San Antonio airport's new nonstop flight to Mexico aims to serve business travel". sanantonioreport.org. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- "Estadística operacional por origen-destino / Traffic Statistics by City Pairs" (in Spanish). Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil. January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
External links
- Official website (in Spanish)
- Accident history for QRO at Aviation Safety Network
