Querétaro
Intercontinental Airport

Yes. Querétaro Intercontinental has an 11,483 foot runway, ICAO Category 8 fire cover, customs on site and a growing business aviation presence, and it is the gateway to the Bajío industrial corridor of aerospace, automotive and manufacturing plants. It is also an uncongested alternative to Mexico City and Toluca.

It confused the elevation with the runway. Querétaro sits at about 6,270 feet elevation; the runway, 09/27, is 3,500 metres, about 11,483 feet. Corrected here and in our data. The runway is long for exactly the reason the elevation matters.

Yes. At 6,270 feet, and with afternoon temperatures in the high twenties and thirties for much of the year, density altitude is a real factor in a heavy departure. The 11,483 foot runway exists to absorb it, and it does for the whole of business aviation, but the calculation is done rather than assumed.

Mexico requires foreign operators to hold a permit from AFAC. Charter operators use a Blanket Permit with the operator's AOC validated by AFAC, which we plan at ten business days; since 1 January 2024 private operations file six-month single-entry authorisations. General aviation is restricted to the public-use airports AFAC lists, and every airport on this page is one of them.

Querétaro for the Bajío: the plants in Querétaro, San Juan del Río, Celaya and Guanajuato's industrial belt, and the colonial cities of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. For Mexico City itself, Toluca and Mexico City International remain closer; Querétaro is about two and a half hours by road, and is used as a relief airport when slots or costs at the capital make it worthwhile.

Handling is arranged on every private flight for customs coordination. Jet A-1 is available. Querétaro has an established business aviation and maintenance presence, with Bombardier's manufacturing site adjacent.

Central Standard Time, UTC-6, all year. Querétaro is on Mexico's central zone and, since Mexico abolished daylight saving in October 2022, does not change clocks.

About 22 kilometres north east of Querétaro, around 30 minutes to the historic centre. San Miguel de Allende is about an hour and a quarter.

No. The airport operates 24 hours and has significant cargo traffic overnight.

Querétaro Intercontinental opened in November 2004, replacing the old Ingeniero Fernando Espinosa Gutiérrez airport close to the city, which could not be expanded. It was planned with a long runway for the elevation and a cargo and aerospace role from the start, and Bombardier's arrival in 2006 anchored the aerospace cluster that now surrounds it.

Growing quickly. It is one of Mexico's fastest growing airports for both passengers and cargo, driven by the Bajío's industrial expansion, but it remains uncongested for business aviation.