It was just announced that ASUR (Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste) has been excluded from bidding on the largest construction project in the Riviera Maya, the new Riviera Maya airport.  The possibility of a monopoly over air transport facilities in the region is the reason for anti-trust regulators to ban the group from bidding to operate the second airport in the vicinity. The Mexican government has long been extolling the virtues of a second airport in the region to service the rapidly growing tourist demand, but ASUR already operates the existing terminals at the Cancun International Airport only 1.5 hours away.

The Federal Competition Commission (CFC) chairman Eduardo Perez Motta said, “Allowing the entry of ASUR into the bidding would have put at risk this opportunity and harmed consumers and tourism in the country's most important tourist zone."  According to Motta, by granting a second license to ASUR it would have, “ended the opportunity for competition between operators.”  This will benefit the end user, the region and Tulum real estate by promoting competition which will ensure better prices and offers to travelers.

This news comes just a week after the state of Quintana Roo released the official map and location of the Tulum bypass and route to this coming Riviera Maya airport.

The Tulum airport is to be located outside the city of Tulum in the state of Quintana Roo, just 45 minutes from Playa Del Carmen and 1.5 hours from Cancun.  The project is anticipated to cost $250 million US and should provide a transit point for over 3 million passengers per year beyond the third year of operation.