Mexico passed a milestone of sorts last month when the airport at the country’s biggest coastal resort, Cancun, surpassed pre-pandemic levels of passengers.

The Airports of the Southeast group, which runs the terminal at the Caribbean coast resort said it handled 1.66 million passengers in Cancun in September.

This was 4.4 per cent more than in the same month of 2019.

HEALTH PRECAUTIONS LARGELY VOLUNTARY

It is unclear, but highly possible that passenger levels at the Cancun airport for all of 2021 could equal or exceed the 2019 annual number.

Mexico never instituted any quarantine or testing requirements for incoming passengers, in part to avoid affecting the country’s tourism income.

Anecdotal evidence suggests tourists are attracted to Mexico’s Caribbean resorts in part because there has been no lockdown and health precautions are largely voluntary.

Many visitors shed their masks when they reach their hotels or beach clubs.