In another strong sign for Puerto Rico’s tourism industry, the island’s biggest air hub had a significant traffic surge in November. 

Mexico-based ASUR, which manages San Juan’s Luis Munoz Marin International Airport, reported a 20.2 percent increase in passenger traffic in November, compared to the same month in 2018. 

That amounted to a total of 779,725 passengers for the month, compared to 648,928 in November 2018. 

For the year, San Juan’s airport is reporting 15.85 million passengers, a very strong 12.1 percent increase over the same period last year. 

The increase comes as Puerto Rico has managed to attract a major wave of new air routes from the mainland United States, as carriers like Spirit, Frontier and others continue to expand their service to the island. 

Indeed, just last month Frontier launched three new routes to Puerto Rico.

That’s helped lead to what Puerto Rico tourism officials report as record-breaking visitor arrival numbers in 2019 — and a sign of how far the island’s crucial tourism industry has come since the storms of 2017. 

— CJ