Morelia International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de Morelia); officially Aeropuerto Internacional General Francisco J. Mujica (General Francisco J. Mujica International Airport) (IATA: MLM, ICAO: MMMM) is an international airport located in Álvaro Obregón, Michoacán, Mexico. It serves the Metropolitan Area of Morelia, Michoacán, and is the largest airport in the state of Michoacán. In addition to providing domestic flights within Mexico, it serves as a gateway for international travel, connecting Central Mexico to multiple destinations in the United States.
Morelia International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional de Morelia | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico | ||||||||||
| Serves | Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico | ||||||||||
| Location | Álvaro Obregón, Michoacán, Mexico | ||||||||||
| Opened | 1984 | ||||||||||
| Time zone | CST (UTC−06:00) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,839 m / 6,033 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 19°51′00″N 101°01′32″W / 19.85000°N 101.02556°W | ||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  MLM Location of the airport in Michoacán  MLM MLM (Mexico) | |||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2023) | |||||||||||
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Source: Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico[1] | |||||||||||
The airport also supports various tourism, flight training, and general aviation activities. It is named in honor of former Governor of Michoacán Francisco José Múgica and it is operated by Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico. In 2022, the airport reached the million-passenger milestone for the first time; traffic increased to 1,384,300 passengers in 2023.,[1] ranking as the eighth-busiest airport in Mexico for international passenger traffic.[2]
History
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The airport began its operations in 1984, initially offering only one daily flight using a DC-9 aircraft to Mexico City. Over the years, it has been served by various airlines, including Aero California, Aero Sudpacífico, Aeromar, Aviacsa, Avolar, Líneas Aéreas Azteca, Continental (now United), Mexicana, TAESA, and TAR. In 2019, the airport underwent expansion efforts to enhance its capabilities. During the same year, Volaris established a crew base at the airport to support its growing number of flight routes connecting Morelia to destinations within Mexico and the United States.[3]
Facilities
editThe airport is located at an elevation of 1,839 metres (6,033 ft) above mean sea level. It has a single runway, designated as 05/23, which measures 3,408 metres (11,181 ft) in length and is surfaced with asphalt.
The commercial aviation apron covers an area of 40,284 square metres (433,610 sq ft) and includes nine stands for receiving narrow-body aircraft. The general aviation apron has a total area of 12,060 square metres (129,800 sq ft) and offers twelve stands for fixed-wing aircraft along with two heliports for private aviation and occasional use by third-level commercial aviation.[4]
The passenger terminal is a single-story building that accommodates both arrivals and departures for domestic and international flights. It features a departure concourse with four gates without jetbridges, a VIP lounge, check-in areas, security zones, baggage claim areas, an arrivals hall, car rental services, taxi stands, and various retail stores. Adjacent to the terminal, other facilities include a hotel,[5] parking areas, civil aviation hangars, and designated spaces for general aviation.
Airlines and destinations
editPassenger
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Destinations map
editDomestic destinations from Morelia International Airport Red = Year-round destination Blue = Future destination Green = Seasonal destination |
 International destinations from Morelia International Airport Red = Year-round destination Blue = Future destination Green = Seasonal destination |
Statistics
editPassengers
editGraphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Busiest routes
edit| Rank | City | Passengers | Ranking | Airline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Baja California, Tijuana
|
294,083 | 
|
Viva Aerobus, Volaris |
| 2 |  United States, Chicago (O'Hare and Midway)[a]
|
104,910 |
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Viva Aerobus, Volaris |
| 3 |  Mexico City, Mexico City
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54,398 |  9
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Aeroméxico Connect |
| 4 | United States, Los Angeles
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37,977 |  1
|
Volaris |
| 5 | United States, Dallas
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37,255 |
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American Airlines, American Eagle |
| 6 | United States, Oakland
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34,036 | 2
|
Volaris |
| 7 | United States, San Jose
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25,124 | 1
|
Volaris |
| 8 | United States, Fresno
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25,049 | 1
|
Volaris |
| 9 |  Quintana Roo, Cancún
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25,044 |
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Volaris |
| 10 | United States, Houston
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21,611 | 2
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United Express |
- Notes
- ^ The official statistics combine both O'Hare and Midway airports.
Accidents and incidents
edit- 9 September 1978 - A de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter of Lineas Aéreas del Centro flying scheduled service to the old Morelia Airport from Mexico City, crashed shortly after takeoff from Mexico City International Airport. There were 18 fatalities among the 21 passengers.[8] The aircraft was also damaged beyond repair.[9]
- 20 October 2002 - Aerolíneas Internacionales Flight 888, a Boeing 727-100 scheduled to fly from Morelia to León/Guanajuato, allegedly encountered 9 small, spherical UFOs prior to its 10AM takeoff roll. As reported by the crew and a witness on the ground, the sighting lasted around 10 minutes, with said objects maneuvering simultaneously. After the objects moved away, the flight was able to continue without further incident.[10][11]
- 19 September 2010 - Aeroméxico Flight 6531, bound to Morelia from Las Vegas, suffered a fuel leak. The Boeing 737-700 returned to Las Vegas for an emergency landing. There were no fatalities among the 102 passengers.[12]
See also
edit- List of the busiest airports in Mexico
- List of airports in Mexico
- List of airports by ICAO code: M
- List of busiest airports in North America
- List of the busiest airports in Latin America
- Transportation in Mexico
- Tourism in Mexico
- Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
- Morelia International Film Festival
- Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
- Morelia Cathedral
References
edit- ^ a b "GAP Traffic Report 2023" (PDF). Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico. January 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ "Estadística Operacional de Aeropuertos / Statistics by Airport". Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ "V de Volaris Magazine May 2019 by HCP Media - Issuu". Archived from the original on 17 June 2019.
- ^ "About the airport".
- ^ "hotel aeropuerto morelia".
- ^ "New Volaris air route between Morelia and Monterrey". Contramuro (in Spanish). August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ "Estadística operacional por origen-destino / Traffic Statistics by City Pairs" (in Spanish). Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil. January 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ "List of Mexican Disasters". Blogspot. December 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2016. [unreliable source?]
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. January 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- ^ Valencia, Henry Rivera (4 September 2015). Secretos AlienÃgenas - Gobiernos - Vaticano. ISBN 9781329533455.
- ^ "El Universal - - Avistan Ovnis en aeropuerto de Morelia".
- ^ "Incident: Aeromexico B737 at Las Vegas on Sep 19th 2010, fuel leak". avherald.com. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
External links
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Media related to General Francisco J. Mujica International Airport at Wikimedia Commons- Official website
- Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico
- Morelia Airport information at Great Circle Mapper
- Aeronautical chart and airport information for MMMM at SkyVector
- Current weather for MMMM at NOAA/NWS
- Accident history for MLM at Aviation Safety Network
- Tourism in Morelia
