The federal government accelerates the administrative processes to comply with the national and international regulations that guarantee the operation of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) as of March 21, 2022, at the same time as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) He highlighted the progress in its construction and raised the need to develop an action plan for the medium term.
Last week, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent to the Federal Commission for Regulatory Improvement (Cofemer) an agreement to declare and qualify AIFA as an international civil aerodrome “for the entry and exit of the country of Mexican and foreign aircraft, both from the service public and private air, national and international transport, regular and non-regular ”.
In less than eight hours, the commission endorsed the process and the document will come into force from the day it is published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), which is expected to occur in the following two weeks.
As a result of the approval, the Secretariat for Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT), through the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFA), was instructed to notify the declaration to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), with based in Montreal, Canada. In addition, it is specified that the immigration, customs, phytozoosanitary, sanitary and public security authorities, within the scope of their respective competencies and within the framework of the applicable regulations, must carry out the inspection and surveillance of the dispatch and arrival of passengers, merchandise, luggage and mail of Mexican or foreign aircraft that provide public or private air transport service.
AFAC certification is missing
Among the pending of the new terminal so that it can start operations, domestic with VivaAerobus and Volaris from the beginning, is that they must have the certification of all their processes and equipment by the AFAC. In order to endorse their activities, the requirements on the matter established by ICAO must be met and they will be verified by the local agency. However, there is no obligation for it to be publicly disclosed when that happens.
In recent months, SICT personnel have reported that they work in close collaboration with the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) to accompany each constructive step in such a way that certification occurs without further complication.
At the same time, IATA Vice President for the Americas, Peter Cerdá, said that there are great possibilities to develop Saint Lucia into a major airport, initially with point-point flights, “but who knows what the future may be, and that is an important initiative to work with the Mexican government and develop an action plan for the future ”.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx