Xoxocotlán International Airport Oaxaca, Mexico

 

You will love the airport in Oaxaca for its small size and its stress free navigation. No need to wonder what to do next. As soon as you exit the plane, your route through the airport and your shuttle into town is all laid out for you.

Where is the Oaxaca airport located?

As you fly along the western United States, the Sierra Nevada range and the Rocky Mountain range again become closer and closer together until they merge to form the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca mountain range. 

The Xoxocotlán International Airport is located between the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Rocky Mountains in southern Mexico about 800 kilometers from the Guatemala border.

Is the Oaxaca airport located in town or outside of town?

The airport is located 10 kilometers from the center of the city. But no need to worry, transportation into town is easy to access.

Where do I go after the plane lands?

As your descent continues into the Xoxocotlán International Airport Oaxaca, you are surprised at the small size. In fact, the airport has no gangways. The plane simply lands right on the tarmac where you are met with one of those ladder trucks like you see in "Arrested Development".

There is no confusion about where to go.

The language barrier doesn't even come into play.

My plane has arrived from Dallas, Texas so everyone on the plane is ushered off the plane and into the immigration room where you will find your luggage. You don't have to ask where to go or what to do. Just follow the leader. As line snaked its way thorough the corridors, airport employees handed an immigration form to each family.

Some of us stepped out of line to fill out the forms, but most just filled it out while in the line. Then it was an easy flow through immigration and into the main terminal. The whole process took about 15 minutes.

Aside from the immigration room, this simple airport consists of two rooms-the gate room and the main terminal. a smaller room before security and the larger main room after security. Only glass windows separate the two so you can see both rooms from anywhere you stand.

If your flight originals from inside Mexico, you don't need to go through immigration. Everyone on your plane will be escorted to the gate room.

This gate room acts as the on and off boarding room so there may be people sitting in this room who are waiting to board the you plane for the flight out of Oaxaca.

You will spot your luggage as soon as you walk through the door. Once you pick up your luggage, you can enter the main terminal.

Is my luggage safe?

Your luggage is safe. You will watch it be unloaded from the plane and then placed in the same room that you entered from the airplane. No one is going to get it except you.

Keep your baggage tickets because you need to show them before you leave the first room, unless you are like me and travel with a carry-on only.

Do I need to go through immigration?

If you have flown to Oaxaca from outside the country you will need to route through immigration. This will be a quick endeavor as there most likely be just the passengers from your plane. Most of the planes into Oaxaca are very small with 3 or 4 seats across.

If you have already been through immigration in Mexico City or are flying within Mexico, quickly enough, you will grab your luggage and show proof of ownership and on to the main room.

You don't need to wonder whether to go through immigration or not. You will be informed immediately upon exiting the plane.

The airport is not scary!

There is nothing to be afraid of. It's not like in a large airport where you encounter an impenetrable line of intimidating uniformed immigration officers.

Everyone working at the airport is just a local person working their job.

In the main room you'll be directed to the transportation desk where you'll purchase a van ride to your lodgings.

Is transportation expensive?

The transportation price is determined by zone and costs only a few dollars. It is not expensive.

At the transportation desk you have your hotel address handy. The clerk checks your hotel address and figures out what zone you're in. You pay for your inexpensive ticket and are shown exactly where to stand to wait upon your van that will transport you to your destination.

Taxi drivers don't bother you because taxis aren't allowed to haul people from the airport.

However, you will see taxis out front as they are allowed to transport passengers TO the airport only.

All passengers MUST take the van or have someone pick them up. Most likely as a tourist you will be taking the van. 

Is transportation safe?

Entering a vehicle with a stranger driving is always a fear at home or when traveling. That is why the organized transportation from the Xoxocotlán International Airport Oaxaca is one of the two main reasons I recommend Oaxaca as the best place to start traveling internationally, and especially if you're traveling solo.

You will most likely not be in the van alone as they want to fit as many passengers as possible. You don't even have to figure out the location of your hotel because you simply give the address to the van driver and they will take you there.

The vans are sanctioned, licensed and regulated by the government to be as simple and stress free as possible.

The Tourist Board wants to insure that you enter their country on a favorable note.

Oaxaca Xoxocotlan International Airport transportation option is similar to international airports throughout the world. Most international airports have an organized plan for transportation into town so you don't have to try and figure it out on your own.

Especially governments in developing countries create regulations designed to spread the wealth between all the transportation providers. These regulations also prevent taxi drivers from the need to clamor for your business.

So it is out to the parking lot for you.

Show your van pass to the van director standing outside the airport door and soon you are winding through the streets of Oaxaca getting your first views of this internationally known tourist City of Oaxaca, in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Suggestion for tentative travelers:

Most flights to Oaxaca transport through either Mexico City or Texas, USA .

If you are an American, I  suggest you fly from Texas as I we now do.

This allows you to go through immigration at the small Oaxaca Xoxocotlan International Airport rather than the larger and potentially intimidating Mexico City International Airport.

Flying directly to Oaxaca from the USA avoids confusion as to how to handle your baggage at the Mexico city airport.

If you fly through Mexico City, you will need to pass through immigration at Mexico City International Airport which can be a quarter mile walk from one end to the other. Also, depending on how your flight is routed you may also need to retrieve your luggage in Mexico City, take it through customs, then recheck it onto your next airplane. If you are not sure what to do...ask!

Snag a window seat when you're flying into Oaxaca, Mexico.

It doesn't matter which side of the airplane you choose. Out of the window you'll view beautiful mountain scenery through much of your journey, but don't be fooled. As the plane descends, the mountains open to reveal the city of Oaxaca set in the valley below.

As you step off the plane, turn your head to the east and there is one mountain. Turn your head to the west and you'll see the other.

I like to think of these mountains as being extensions of the mountains near my home in the United States. 

View a topographical map and you will find mountains extending from the tip of Alaska, through Canada, USA and Mexico, continuing into Central and South America.

As the mountain range enters the lower 50 states of the USA, they broaden and split into two distinct mountain ranges. Eventually these two mountains ranges develop a 1000 mile valley in between.

The mountain range to the west defines the border between my home state of California and the neighboring state of Nevada.

Can you guess the name of the mountain range between California and Nevada? Here's a hint: Skiers refer to the snow in these mountains as Sierra cement. 

Want to know what to on your first day in Oaxaca? Read my post The First Thing Tourists Should Do in Oaxaca