North America · Mexico

Handling at Los Cabos (MMSD)

We handle overflight permits, slots, flight plans, fuel, customs and the turnaround at Los Cabos. One coordinator owns the stop at Los Cabos, from the first filing to wheels up.

AERODROME

--:-- local

ICAO: MMSD
IATA: SJD
Elevation: 374 ft
Position: 23.152, -109.721

RUNWAYS

16/343,000 m / 9,843 ftAsphalt

Reference only, not for flight planning. Lengths are full declared runway length rather than declared distances, and this page is not amended on the AIRAC cycle. Check the current AIP and NOTAMs, or ask the desk and we will check them for you.

The field

What MMSD is actually like

Los Cabos is the business aviation gateway to the southern Baja peninsula and carries among the heaviest private traffic in the country. Traffic is heavily concentrated into the winter and holiday periods.

Operating brief

What we handle before you file

Permits

Mexico requires authorisation for foreign operators, and the requirements differ sharply between private and commercial flights. Commercial operations need AFAC authority with genuine lead time, and a private flight carrying paying passengers is treated as commercial.

Slots and parking

No standing slot control, but parking is the constraint over the holidays and it fills early. Overnight space at Christmas and New Year is allocated well in advance.

Customs and border

Mexican entry documentation is checked properly rather than waved through, and the requirements move with nationality. Crew paperwork gets the same scrutiny as the passengers'.

When it gets tight

Christmas through New Year is the hardest period by a wide margin, followed by Spring Break in March, Easter week and Thanksgiving. Hurricane season from June through November is a schedule risk.

On the ground

Off the aircraft and into the car

San José del Cabo is about half an hour and Cabo San Lucas rather more, on a road that clogs over the holidays. Handling is straightforward. The resorts are used to private arrivals and will meet the aircraft if asked in advance.

Alternates

Where we go when MMSD will not take the trip

Every one of these is a field we would put to you with the reason attached, not a list of nearby runways.

MMLP
La Paz
North on the peninsula, quieter, and a realistic repositioning base over the holidays.
MMPR
Puerto Vallarta
Across the Sea of Cortez on the mainland, with full international facilities.
MMMD
Mérida
Far from Cabo, but a common and uncongested Mexican clearance point on longer routings.

What we handle here