Puerto Vallarta (MMPR) Announces Holiday-Season General Aviation Restrictions, Mandatory Slots and Limited Parking
Why It MattersHoliday peaks at slot-controlled resort airports push general aviation toward coordination-first operating, where a missing slot or parking approval can stop a trip regardless of how well the flight itself is planned.
What happened
American Flight Support (AFS) has informed operators of upcoming general aviation restrictions, limited aircraft parking and potential delays at Puerto Vallarta International Airport (MMPR) during the holiday season. All times are Puerto Vallarta local time (UTC−6).
General aviation arrivals are prohibited during specified hours under NOTAM B3512/26, and an overnight runway closure is also referenced. Advance slot coordination is mandatory for both arrivals and departures. Operators must provide their complete itinerary, aircraft registration and passenger information.
Any change to the aircraft registration or a confirmed itinerary cancels the assigned slot, and passenger changes may also affect approval. Confirmed slots carry a ±15-minute tolerance, subject to ATC instructions and airport restrictions. New passenger photography procedures may lengthen immigration processing times.
Overnight aircraft parking is extremely limited and requires advance confirmation; an approved slot does not guarantee parking availability. Operators are encouraged to coordinate fuel requirements in advance and, where operationally feasible, arrive with sufficient fuel to minimize ground servicing time, subject to aircraft performance and safety requirements.
AFS said it can assist with slot coordination, ground handling, aircraft parking, fuel coordination, customs and immigration arrangements, and monitoring of airport restrictions and NOTAMs. It recommends submitting flight schedules, aircraft registration, passenger details, parking requirements and fuel needs as early as possible. All operations remain subject to applicable NOTAMs, airport and authority approvals and ATC instructions, and restrictions and availability may change without prior notice.
Industry impact & what to watch
Resort airports with a single runway and a small apron tend to tighten general aviation access exactly when demand peaks, and the holiday season is that peak. In that setting the slot becomes only the first gate: parking, immigration processing and fuel timing each add their own constraint, and each can fail independently of the others.
The rule that a changed registration or itinerary cancels a slot has a practical consequence for how trips are planned. Aircraft substitutions and late passenger changes, both routine in charter and private flying, carry a rebooking cost at MMPR that they would not at an unrestricted airport. Planning around that means locking the aircraft and manifest early, or accepting the risk of losing the slot.
The next point to follow is whether the arrival-prohibition hours and the overnight runway closure change from what NOTAM B3512/26 currently states. AFS itself says restrictions and availability may change without prior notice, so the NOTAM text and written slot and parking confirmations are the documents that settle what a given flight can do.
