Departures

Today's departures

Gate, terminal, and — the part that matters most — whether the aircraft you are waiting for has even landed yet.

How early to arrive

Cancun is a leisure airport, which means departures come in waves. A terminal that is calm at ten in the morning can have four transatlantic flights checking in at once by midday.

The airport is twenty to thirty minutes from the Hotel Zone without traffic, and closer to an hour from Playa del Carmen. Count the journey separately from the check-in time.

Before security

1. Check the terminal, not just the airline Going to the wrong one means a shuttle ride. How long that takes.
2. Check in and drop bags Most airlines here close bag drop 60 minutes before an international departure. That deadline is firm.
3. Empty the water bottle Then fill it after security. Airside water costs several times what it costs outside.
4. Check what is in the bag Especially anything bought at a market. What you cannot take.

After security

• Food and shops are almost all airside. If you have time to spend, spend it past security rather than in the check-in hall. What is open and when.
• Lounges sell entry at the door in every terminal, and on a long wait usually cost less than buying food and drink separately. Prices and access.
• Duty free liquids come in a sealed bag. On a connecting flight, do not open it. The sealed-bag rule.
• Gates can be a walk. Terminal 2 has 22 of them; the far ones are not two minutes away.

Leaving Mexico

Departure formalities are light. Two things occasionally catch people:

• The departure tax is normally already in your ticket. If someone asks you to pay one separately at the airport, check your ticket before paying anything.
• If you were given a paper entry document in the past you had to return it. With the digital record that no longer applies — how entry works now.