Connecting Flights

Domestic to Domestic

E.g. Puebla – Guadalajara – Hermosillo

In this case you do not need to complete any procedure with the authorities. Make sure your baggage was checked at your origin airport through to your final destination. When all your flights are part of the same reservation, baggage is usually checked through to the final destination; if so, you do not need to collect your baggage at Guadalajara Airport. Even if your baggage was checked through, if you arrive in and depart from Guadalajara with two different airlines, it is advisable to approach a representative of the airline you will fly next and let them know you have connecting baggage checked with another airline at another airport. They will make sure your bag is transferred and travels with you on the flight.

If your flights were purchased separately, you will have to collect your baggage, go to the counters and check it again with the next airline. In this case we recommend allowing at least a few hours between flights to avoid problems.

Find your flight’s boarding lounge on the information screens and go there at least one hour before departure. Keep in mind that the time shown on your boarding pass, unless otherwise stated, is the aircraft’s departure time, so if you arrive at the lounge at that time you will very likely miss the flight.

Domestic to International

E.g. Puebla – Guadalajara – Los Angeles

At Guadalajara Airport there is no exit passport control, as there is in other countries or other Mexican airports, so you do not need to complete any procedure with any authority. However, when boarding your flight abroad you must hand in an Immigration Form for Mexican Nationals, a free statistical form available from your airline. The airline may even have given it to you at your origin airport when it saw that your final destination was abroad. If not, ask a representative of your airline.

In this case, baggage transfer works the same as in a Domestic to Domestic connection: if your baggage was checked at origin through to your final destination, you do not need to collect it; if for some reason it was checked only to Guadalajara, you must collect it and take it to the next airline’s counters to check it again.

International to Domestic

E.g. Los Angeles – Guadalajara – Puebla

Since you are arriving from abroad, upon arrival in Guadalajara you must first go through Immigration. If you travel with a non-Mexican passport, you must present, together with your passport, an Immigration Form distributed by the airlines. The form has two parts, both of which must be properly completed. The officer keeps the upper part and gives you the lower part. Keep it until you leave the country; if you lose it, a replacement fine applies. If you travel with a Mexican passport, you do not need to fill out any form when entering Mexico through Guadalajara.

If your baggage was checked through to your final destination, you will then have to collect your checked baggage to go through Customs. Once you complete Customs, place your checked baggage on the “return belt” so it can be picked up by the airline you are continuing with. The return belt is inside the international baggage claim hall, just after Customs, to the right, before the door to the public area. If your baggage was not checked through to your final destination, after Customs you will have to take it to the counter of the airline you are continuing with. This is more common when your flights were purchased separately. In this case we recommend allowing at least two hours between flights, as the immigration and customs areas can be quite busy, especially in the mornings.

Finally, you will have to re-enter the departure lounges through the security checkpoint.

International to International

E.g. Los Angeles – Guadalajara – San Salvador

In this case you will have to go through Immigration, collect your baggage, go through Customs, place your checked baggage on the return belt and go through the security checkpoint to re-enter the departure lounges for your next flight. This is practically the same as an International to Domestic connection, but you must also meet Mexico’s exit immigration requirements. Mexican nationals only need to fill out the Immigration Form for Mexican Nationals and hand it in when boarding; you can get it from the airline you are continuing with. Foreign nationals must hand in the lower part of the Foreign Visitor Immigration Form, received when going through Immigration on arrival in Guadalajara, when boarding the flight that takes them out of Mexico.