Landing in Cancun and dreading the taxi queue? There's good news for budget-conscious travellers. ADO, Mexico's biggest bus operator, has rolled out new coaches for its airport-to-hotel routes at Cancun International, adding five Irizar i8 buses and bringing the dedicated fleet to 12 units. The service is pitched as a low-cost alternative to taxis and private transfers for the millions of visitors heading into the Hotel Zone and beyond.

The new buses carry up to 54 passengers each and come with the kind of extras you don't always expect from a shuttle: air conditioning, reclining seats, onboard toilets, mobile charging ports, GPS tracking and passenger insurance. Gerardo Jerez Obando, who runs ADO's Caribbean mobility region, framed the upgrade as a push on comfort, safety and reliability — three things that matter a lot when you've just stepped off a long-haul flight into the Caribbean heat.

Cancun's mayor, Ana Paty Peralta, was on hand for the launch and thanked the company for its continued investment in the city, saying the buses carry more than passengers — they carry the trips and memories that keep Cancun among the world's top tourism destinations. She also noted that the expanded service makes it easier for visitors to explore Quintana Roo and other parts of Mexico, not just the strip of hotels near the airport.

Why should you care? Because airport transfers in Cancun can be one of the priciest add-ons to a trip. Taxi and private transfer fares from the airport to the Hotel Zone often run to several times the cost of a bus seat, and ADO's routes connect the airport with downtown Cancun, the Hotel Zone, Playa del Carmen and other Riviera Maya towns. If your hotel sits near an ADO stop, the bus can save you real money on day one — money better spent on cenotes, beach clubs or tacos.

The service also opens up Cancun as a hub rather than just a beach base. With comfortable long-distance coaches running from the same city terminals, it's straightforward to plan a trip that mixes a few resort days with excursions to Tulum's ruins, the sargassum-swimmable beaches of Isla Mujeres, or even Merida further west. For solo travellers and backpackers especially, the ADO network is often the cheapest sane way to move around the Yucatan.

Practical tips: ADO tickets can be bought at the airport terminal counters or online in advance, and buses depart regularly throughout the day — check the current schedule before you fly since frequencies vary by route. Keep small cash or a card handy, confirm which terminal your bus leaves from (Cancun International has several), and if you're staying deep in the Hotel Zone, check whether your stop is walkable or whether you'll need a short local taxi ride to finish the trip.

The expanded fleet won't change Cancun's skyline, but it does make arriving there cheaper and less stressful — which, for most of us, matters more.

Original reporting by Riviera Maya News.