.jpg){kind=link}
La Paz International Airport moved more than 454,000 passengers between January and April 2026, a 12% increase over the same period last year. The growth continues a strong upward trend for the Baja California Sur capital’s airport, which handled 1.34 million total passengers in 2025.
International traffic saw the sharpest gains. The number of international passengers jumped 46%, climbing from roughly 11,000 in the first four months of 2025 to about 16,300 this year. Airport director Blanca Sarahí Castro Araiza attributed much of that growth to the Los Angeles route, which launched in late 2024.
More Routes, More Flights
The airport, officially named Manuel Márquez de León International Airport (IATA code: LAP), currently serves 10 domestic and one international destination. It averages 190 weekly flights. Major carriers operating from La Paz include Aeromexico, Viva Aerobus, Volaris, and Alaska Airlines. Popular domestic routes connect La Paz to Mexico City, Tijuana, Guadalajara, and Cancún.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP), the publicly traded company that operates the airport, also runs 11 other Mexican airports including Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, and Guadalajara. GAP’s 12 Mexican airports collectively saw a 1.2% passenger increase in January 2026, meaning La Paz is outpacing the company’s broader network.
Billion-Peso Expansion Planned
Castro Araiza pointed to growing national and international interest in Baja California Sur as a tourism destination. The airport is advancing a 2025 to 2029 development plan with more than 1 billion pesos (roughly $50 million USD) in projected investment. Plans include sustainability upgrades such as solar panels and reduced water consumption.
The growth trend appears to be holding. Separate reporting from late May 2026 showed the airport posted a 10.9% passenger increase for that month as well, confirming the momentum is not slowing.
For context, the airport first crossed the one-million-passenger milestone in 2022, when it handled 1.08 million travelers. It reached 1.2 million in 2024 before jumping to 1.34 million in 2025. If the current pace holds through 2026, the airport could approach 1.5 million annual passengers.
This story was first reported by BCS Noticias.