Guadalajara, México - Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico recently announced preliminary terminal passenger traffic figures for the month of July 2015 compared to traffic figures for July 2014.

During July 2015, total terminal passengers increased 9.9% in the 12 Mexico-based airports compared to the same period of the previous year; Domestic passenger traffic presented an 10.2% increase, while international passenger traffic increased 9.3%.

The following items are highlights from traffic results for the month of July:

Load Factor: During the month of July, GAP reached an historic monthly level of passenger traffic as a result of the 9.6% increase in the number of seats available as well as the 84.9% load factor. The solid performance of this indicator was due to the increasing competitiveness of airline ticket prices, as well as higher efficiency in terms of capacity planning by the airlines.

New Routes: Guanajuato to Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara to La Paz, Guadalajara to Mazatlan, La Paz to Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta to Durango by TAR Aerolíneas; as well as Guadalajara to New York JFK by Volaris.

Aguascalientes and Guanajuato: The increases at both of these airports reflect the Bajio region’s economic expansion. The main driver behind the accumulated increases of 20.5 and 22.9 percent in Aguascalientes and Guanajuato, respectively, were business travelers travelling between industrial centers in Mexico and U.S. HUBs; as well as higher demand for domestic leisure travel.

Guadalajara: This airport continues to experience solid growth, reaching over 10.0% in the domestic market and over 10.4% in international. With the addition of the flight to New York, this airport now has 25 direct international flights from the city of Guadalajara, making this airport one of the most important HUBs in the country.

Puerto Vallarta: This airport reported a 17.0% increase in the number of passengers transported for July, led by the 24.6% in the volume of seats offered, which represented 65 thousand new seats. In the international market, Southwest has become a major growth generator with the opening of the Orange County daily service. Additionally, all of the domestic airlines reached a higher volume of seats offered compared to 2014, highlighting VivaAerobus which tripled its number of flights to the city of Monterrey.

Los Cabos: The development of domestic traffic at this airport continues to reach historic levels, with accumulated growth of 6.8%. The international market gets closer to 2014 levels each day, progressing from -7.3% in January to -3.6% in July.

Per information provided by the Los Cabos Tourism Board, the lodging recovery in this city continues underway. The Los Cabos Hotel Association recently announced that the opening of over 1,500 hotel rooms in the coming months, which will coincide with the opening of operations from Orange County by Alaska, Toronto by West Jet and Houston-Hobby by Southwest.

Tijuana: The strategic location of this airport continues to position it as the most viable option for the VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) passenger travelling to Southern California. The depreciation of the peso versus the dollar has driven competition in airline ticket prices for domestic airlines, specifically Volaris and Interjet. It is important to mention that with the December opening of the cross border facility, many airlines are seeking to position themselves in high-density markets such as Guadalajara and Mexico City, which will allow them to expand their market share.

About Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, S.A.B. de C.V. (GAP)

GAP operates 12 airports throughout Mexico’s Pacific region, including the major cities of Guadalajara and Tijuana, the four tourist destinations of Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, La Paz and Manzanillo, and six other mid-sized cities: Hermosillo, Guanajuato, Morelia, Aguascalientes, Mexicali and Los Mochis.