CUN - CANCUN AIRPORT

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Cancun Airport by Stephanie Brown

20 April 2007   Customer Rating : n/a

It's really a tale of two airports. The immigration and arrivals areas are bad. I arrived 3.5 hours ahead of the party I was meeting in Cancun. I went through immigration, and started over to baggage claim. The people on my flight, and I waited more than 30 minutes for our luggage. After that, the challenge is dodging the timeshare hawkers. Right when you walk into the rental car area there is an area of bank teller like booths staffed with people who wave you over urgently as soon as you make eye contact. It seems official, but don't fall for it. If you dont get stuck with that, then there are people standing around who pretend they are going to help you to your rental car, or to the transportation to your hotel, but it always ends up turning into a timeshare commercial. Also, there is no place to sit, so if you have to wait for any amount of time, you have to sit on the floor. I would suggest, when arriving, leave straight away from the airport, and dont make eye contact with anyone! Just plow through to the exit. The departure area is much nicer. Pretty clean, lots of shops and stuff. I was amazed at how decent it was. No problems with the departure process. Planes are slow to board. Security goes through every carry on bag as you board the plane. The beauty of Cancun far outweighs the bad stuff at the airport. Just get out of there as soon as you can, and enjoy the paradise that awaits

Cancun Airport by David Chown

24 March 2007

Very pleasantly surprised leaving from Cancun. Bright, clean and large modern airport. Check-in for XL Airways was quick and efficient, no delays at security, ample seating in area with shops and food outlets. At 11 pm currency exchange was still open.

Cancun Airport by Bob Faulkner

24 July 2006

I suppose that I expected a bit more from an airport serving a major tourist area. First, there is only one runway (which was closed for 20 minutes due to debris as we approached from Denver), and many of the gates have no jetways. When we departed, we had to board a bus with no seats to be hauled to the far end of the tarmac to board our flight from portable steps. When you arrive, you are besieged by people wanting to give you a "welcome package" - invariably people hawking time shares. If you have never been to Cancun before, you have no idea that they are not affiliated with the company you booked your tours through. Very chaotic getting to ground transportation. This airport is decidedly third world, which I found surprising.

Cancun Airport by G Hamilton

10 June 2006

Cancun Airport has undergone a great deal of improvement in the last year. Baggage reclaim was pleasantly quick, and the immigration side is bigger and more efficient than previous years. They have X-ray machines now, instead of opening everybodys case now, but they still select many at random for close inspection which can delay you. The departure checkin desks appear on screen 3 hours before the flight, but there was an hour queuing before the desk actually opened . The departure lounge in the international terminal has been vastly improved with a snack food court, bar and a new duty free shopping area which passed the time quite nicely. All in all quite a good experience and much more efficient. There was no baggage search to delay checkin on departure this year, but they still have a departure tax of $50 USD at check in !

Cancun Airport by P Cross

3 February 2006

Very impressed with the layout, services, cleanliness and comfort of the Cancun airport - well done. It certainly makes for an even better vacation experience.

Cancun Airport by Christian Rocha

16 November 2005

I have arrived and departed via Terminal 2 (domestic flights) several times, and it has been a decent experience. In fact, CUN was making some progress previous to the Hurricane Wilma incident. The location of the airport is quite far away from Cancun, but its in the center of the Maya Riviera complex. True, many improvements can be made (especially when it comes to entertainment and ventilation), but it fares quite well compared to other Mexican airports. Transportation wise there are some problems, but it fares better than Honolulu or San Diego.

Cancun Airport by Y Oh

29 June 2005

Cancun airport was very unpleasant experience. There were signs everywhere that said "NO SMOKING", but everyone was smoking. If you can't stand the smoke, this airport will be a terrible place. There is no enforcement to prevent people from smoking. In addition, ventilation in the airport is pretty bad which doesn't help this situation. I even asked the security guard about this and she just told me "I am sorry".

Cancun Airport by Steve Hedden

6 June 2005

Cancun airport is OK. I arrived and departed through Terminal 1, which is the older terminal. Customs and Immigration on arrival was orderly and straight-forward. Departures were well-labeled and frequently announced. Transport from the airport to Cancun is frustrating as you are guided to the $60 taxis. There is no signage or other directions to the $1.50 shuttle that departs every half hour. (I learned about this only for my return) The trick is that the shuttle only departs from Terminal 2, so from Terminal 1, you must first take the inter-terminal shuttle. Also annoying was the chronic smoking in the terminal, even at the gates, despite 'No Smoking' signs posted everywhere.

Cancun Airport by Norman Beattie

1 May 2005

Cancun airport is really operated quite efficiently, not that improvements cant be made. I have been in and out of this airport for 15 years and have experienced it all. Everything is a matter of perspective, Mexico is Mexico, some things are to be expected and prepared for.

Cancun Airport by Jose Balrrada

21 March 2005

Cancun Airport has always provided exceptional service, and a great experience. Terminal 1 is a bit old, and always crowded, but since I'm mexican, I almost always arrive and depart from Terminal 2, which is a newer, bigger and more modern terminal, with a big round concourse comprising around 20 gates. The new baggage claim area is a total disaster, they send 4 flights to the same conveyor, just like in Mexico City, even when there are many carousels left. Conveyors 15-18 are never used, instead, they exploit 1-10, and sometimes use 11-15. Organization is a big problem, but its even a great, and big international airport.

Cancun Airport by David Stein

13 March 2005

I flew into Cancun once from Charlotte. Customs and immigration were chaotic. Lines were formed all over. It took 2 hours to clear passport control. Check in was no problem at all.

Cancun Airport by Martin Davidson

10 October 2004

Based on my last four visits to Cancun I would have to agree with the negative comments posted her by others. The exception - on 8th October 2004 I left Cancun for London Gatwick and everything went smoothly and quickly! We arrived at the airport about 90 minutes before our scheduled departure (charter Britannia BY362B, 15:35 departure) and there was no queue at all - we walked straight up to the desk, without our luggage having to undergo a manual search, where we were checked-in quickly and we paid our departure tax there (none of the separate queuing as reported by Nick Williamson). The straight through to the departure lounge where we made some duty-free purchases and had a drink and then boarded the flight on time and departure was also on time. I guess that sometimes things work very well, even in Cancun!

Cancun Airport by Ian Niblett

19 July 2004

This is the airport from hell and is the worst I've ever been to. On arrival it takes ages to get through customs and on all inbound/outbound flights EVERY piece of luggage is hand searched. There is no PA system telling you of flight departures etc. Instead there is a man with a megaphone. It's advisable to check with your tour operator about exit tax. I went with Thomas Cook and all exit taxes were paid in advance by them. Our flight was delayed by 6 hours.

Cancun Airport by Nick Williamson

31 May 2004

We flew out of Cancun back home to Manchester in May 2004 with Mytravel. The check-in procedure was probably the worst and certainly the most chaotic I have ever encountered. First, it's just plain slow. Second, your party gets split up into 2 groups! One person has to get in the queue to pay the exit tax ($45 USD per person) while the rest of the party gets in the regular queue to check-in. The problem is that the person paying the tax has to take ALL the documents (passports, tickets) with them, so the rest of the party can't check-in until the other person has reached the head of the tax queue! This causes a real bottleneck. It took an absolute age to get through all of this. The departure lounge is OK without being spectacular. Some flights were facing long delays. We were delayed by about 45m, which was made up on the flight home.

Cancun Airport by Kelly Carroll

13 May 2004

Don't put anything of value in the luggage you check. Mine was ransacked, my digital camera was stolen. Others on the same flight had valuable goods taken from them. It's a real shame and puts a big damper on an otherwise great vacation. I can't stand dishonesty and am wondering now if I will ever return. To go to a country and tip wherever possible and buy their goods and then be ripped off in return is really disheartening.

Cancun Airport by Anthony Saunders

6 January 2004

I flight to Cancun at least once a year and every time I'm there, there is a construction going on. Nevertheless I don't see any improvement in the International gates, they seem too old in comparison with the rest of the airport.

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