American Airlines is the latest carrier to drop service to Tulum

American Airlines has announced the discontinuation of its flight service from Miami to the Yucatán Peninsula resort town of Tulum, as part of a broader reduction of international routes. This move brings the largest U.S. airline into the list of major carriers, such as Aeroméxico and Volaris, that have either dropped or paused routes to the popular beach destination along Mexico's Caribbean coast.

Tulum's international airport opened in December 2023 with great anticipation, but the airport's subsidies for new airports eventually ran out, and Tulum experienced a decline in hotel occupancy. Consequently, airlines began to cut back on or end their services to the region. In November 2023, American Airlines had already announced a seasonal pause of its Miami-Tulum route, which would resume until December 1.

The airline plans to resume service to Tulum one last time from December 17 to January 5, 2027, before stopping it completely. Meanwhile, the airline has also ended its service to Tulum from Charlotte, North Carolina, in February 2025, less than a year after the launch. Next year, American Airlines will only offer a route from Dallas/Fort Worth to Tulum.

Only the Dallas/Fort Worth hub will remain as the U.S. entry point to Tulum for American Airlines. The airline has also announced plans to remove its Charlotte-San José del Cabo route from its future schedule, following its current seasonal pause. The route was initially planned to return to normal operations in November but is now expected to have sporadic operations only, ultimately ending in August 2027.

A potential reason for the discontinuation could be the low flight occupancy, averaging 73.69% between June 2025 and June 2026.