Tulum, Q.R. — Lufthansa subsidiary Discover Airlines is making a change to its 2025-2026 winter travel schedule. Rather than land its German flight at Tulum International as planned, the airline says they will land at Cancun International instead.
Discover Airlines will discontinue service to Tulum Airport (TQO) altogether, including their newly planned route for 2025-2026. “The airport has a lot of potential, but it’s a combination of many factors. For now, we’re focused on Cancun,” they said.
Discover Airlines first landed at Tulum International in December of 2024 with a direct flight from Frankfurt (FRA). Less than a year later, the airline says they will continue flying into the Mexican Caribbean, but landing only at Cancun International.
The air operator said the change was made in response “to the desire of many tour operators to better connect Bavaria with the Caribbean.”
While they are ditching Tulum, they are increasing flights into Cancun. Discover says they will offer direct flights into Cancun International on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for that same winter schedule. However, during the Christmas season, there will be an additional flight on Thursdays.
According to Germany’s Touristik Aktuell, the Tulum airport received mixed reviews from German tour operators that included issues with expensive on-site handling and limited ground transportation due to the limited availability of operators and buses. Transfer times were also listed as a problem since they were not reduced as hoped, as there is no bypass around Tulum. The airline says these have lead to a slow demand for the route.
Discover Airlines is the third to cancel routes into Tulum International this year. In May, Air Canada announced a scale back of its flights into Tulum. The airline, which was set to resume its Ottawa to Tulum and Quebec City to Tulum routes, canceled the planned seasonal service. As of July 1, Copa airlines stopped their flights into Tulum and rerouted to Cancun International where they have been landing 25 years.
Tulum has reported a significant drop in tourism this year due to several factors that range from sargassum on beaches to overly expensive tour fees to enter parks and other public sights. Merchants in the archaeological zone of Tulum have called the 2025 summer vacation period worst than the pandemic due to a lack of visitors.
