"Commercial flights will continue to be suspended. The priority for the federal government is to carry out the evacuation for persons affected by Wilma, and for that reason, the only authorized flights will be military or for humanitarian aid," the Communications and Transportation Secretariat said in a statement on Monday.

The airport on Cozumel island, near Cancun, will be readied for flights, during daylight hours only, because the airport's electrical installations were severely damaged, the secretariat said.

Mexico will coordinate the massive evacuation with the airlines, local tourism officials and with other countries, principally the United States and Europe.

Quintana Roo state governor Felix Gonzalez Canto said that as many as 35,00 tourists could be stranded in his state, the most affected by Wilma.

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