Mexican airport operator Asur posted a 27 percent year to year drop in net profit in the third quarter, as the H1N1 flu outbreak and economic slump led fewer people to travel.

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste earned MXP171 million pesos (USD$12 million) between July and September, compared with MXP234 million in the same quarter of 2008.

Traffic at Asur's busy Cancun, Cozumel and Oaxaca airports, all popular tourist destinations, dropped sharply in the quarter, compared with the year-earlier period.

Mexico was the epicenter of an outbreak of a new flu virus in April, which greatly hurt the country's tourism and airline industries. Foreign visitors remain cautious about traveling to Mexico although the disease has spread globally.