ASUR Q3 traffic fell 1.2% from a year earlier, and almost all of the drop came from one airport: Cancún, where international passengers fell about 13% in the July-to-September quarter. The headline looks mild only because Colombia kept growing and a big new Brazilian portfolio joined the count for one month.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR, listed in New York as ASR) runs airports in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia and now Brazil. Its third-quarter 2026 summary, reported by TradingView on 22 October 2026, shows a network moving in two directions.
Key takeaways
- Total Q3 2026 traffic fell 1.2% year on year, to roughly 20.9 million passengers (our sum of ASUR’s monthly releases).
- Mexico fell 4.6% and Puerto Rico 3.2%. Colombia rose 5.2%, and Brazil and others rose 1.4%.
- Cancún’s international traffic fell in each month of the quarter: 12.7% in July, 15.0% in August and 11.8% in September.
- Brazil, Costa Rica, Curaçao and Ecuador, bought through the CPC Aeroportos deal, count for September only.
What did ASUR Q3 traffic actually show?
Picture a shop that adds a busy new branch in the last month of the quarter. Total sales look almost flat, but the old flagship store is clearly struggling. That is ASUR’s quarter, and Cancún is the flagship.
Here is how each market moved against the July-to-September 2025 period:
| Market | Q3 2026 change (YoY) | What drove it |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico (9 airports) | -4.6% | Sharp fall in Cancún international traffic |
| Puerto Rico (San Juan) | -3.2% | Weak July and August, then a 3.1% rise in September |
| Colombia (6 airports) | +5.2% | Steady domestic growth, led by Medellín |
| Brazil and others | +1.4% | September only, the first full month after the deal |
| Total | -1.2% | Growth abroad only partly offset Mexico |
If you leave out the new airports, our count from the monthly data puts the original network down about 1.8%. The new assets added roughly 3.9 million passengers in September alone, according to ASUR’s September traffic release of 7 October 2026.
Why is Cancún losing foreign passengers?
Cancún is ASUR’s most important airport, and it handled roughly 6.1 million passengers in the quarter, about 9% fewer than a year earlier by our count. Foreign visitors, mostly from the US, account for most of the decline.
Several causes overlap:
- Fewer US airline seats. Spirit Airlines’ bankruptcy took out a large block of capacity. Cancún airport director Carlos Trueba Coll blamed part of the drop on it, Mexico News Daily reported.
- Softer US demand. Tourism Analytics found that US carriers scheduled 13.6% fewer seats for May and June, and that US residents made up about 79% of Cancún’s lost visitors in May.
- A stronger peso. The peso firmed from about 18.75 to 17.48 per dollar over the year, so a Mexican holiday got more expensive for Americans.
- Sargassum and safety worries. Seaweed-covered beaches and security headlines hurt bookings, though analysts treat them as secondary causes.
One detail stands out. Hotels in Cancún raised average room rates in May 2026, but occupancy fell from 67.1% to 57.2%. Higher prices did not make up for the empty rooms.
Where is ASUR still growing?
Colombia is ASUR’s bright spot. Its six airports, led by Medellín’s Rionegro, grew traffic 6.5% in the first nine months of 2026, and domestic flights rose 5.9% in September alone.
The bigger story is Brazil. ASUR closed its purchase of 20 airports on 1 September 2026, according to its August traffic release. They are 17 in Brazil plus one each in Costa Rica, Curaçao and Ecuador. Brazil is Latin America’s largest aviation market by passengers, and in September its airports carried almost 2.9 million people, up 2.6%.
Does a 1.2% drop matter for investors?
Airport operators earn fees for every passenger who passes through, and they earn far more from international travellers. Foreign passengers pay higher fees and spend more in duty-free shops and restaurants. A fall in international traffic therefore hurts more than the headline number suggests.
From January to September 2026, ASUR’s international traffic fell 4.1% while domestic traffic rose 1.3%. That shift toward cheaper domestic passengers is the trend to watch in revenue. The Brazilian airports add scale, but they are almost all domestic: about 98% of September’s Brazilian passengers flew within the country.
Our view: the deal makes ASUR far less dependent on one beach resort, and that is healthy. But it also blurs year-on-year comparisons for the next four quarters, so read the country lines rather than the total.
What happens next
- The winter season. Trueba Coll expects seasonal flights returning in December 2026 to help reverse Cancún’s slide. The October and November monthly reports, usually published in the first week of the following month, will show whether that is starting.
- US capacity. JetBlue has restored some of the seats Spirit lost. Watch for other carriers adding Cancún routes.
- Brazil integration. The fourth quarter will be the first with three full months of Brazilian, Costa Rican, Curaçao and Ecuadorian traffic, which will change the scale of ASUR’s totals.
- Fair comparisons. Until September 2027, the new airports will inflate group totals against the old network, so the country breakdown matters more.
FAQ
How much did ASUR Q3 traffic fall?
Total passenger traffic fell 1.2% year on year in the third quarter of 2026. Mexico fell 4.6% and Puerto Rico 3.2%, while Colombia rose 5.2% and Brazil and others rose 1.4%.
Why is Cancún airport traffic down in 2026?
Mainly because US airlines cut seats, including after Spirit’s bankruptcy, and US demand softened. A stronger peso, sargassum and safety concerns added pressure.
What airports did ASUR buy in Brazil?
Through the CPC Aeroportos acquisition, which closed on 1 September 2026, ASUR took over 17 airports in Brazil and one each in Costa Rica, Curaçao and Ecuador.
If you follow third-quarter earnings, compare ASUR’s numbers with another company whose revenue stalled: Tesla’s 43% profit drop. Then check ASUR’s October traffic report in early November.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice.
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