Without operations at the Toluca International Airport, the Valley of Mexico Airport System currently works with the international airports Benito Juárez, in CDMX, and Felipe Ángeles, in Zumpango.
Of that triad, the AIFA —which will complete eight weeks of operations next week— is destined to become the most important airport infrastructure in the country. And to achieve this goal, Undersecretary Rogelio Jiménez Pons heads an action plan that involves half a dozen federal agencies, which will coordinately influence the internationalization of the new Santa Lucía terminal.
The Seneam was in charge of the first part of this plan, after —on the instructions of the Federal Civil Aviation Agency— it prepared an opinion on the capacity of the AICM that requires the reduction of operations in the two terminals of that aerodrome.
The shotdown of the AICM would be inversely proportional to the strengthening of the AIFA, which by the end of 2022 —according to the action plan and strategies of the SICT— would have 120 daily operations, which will allow it to reach a point of financial equilibrium, considering the profitability of the same. With 160 daily operations, the return on investment would be achieved, in accordance with the master development program for the new airport.
In the short term, it is contemplated to reduce 28 daily operations on average in the AICM, which would go to the AIFA as long as the same demand is maintained. Negotiations with Aeroméxico, Volaris and Viva Aerobus are ongoing, confirmed Jiménez Pons.
The move will depend on the time required by the air operators to change headquarters and the existence of current contracts of the aeronautical companies with the AICM. And above all, it is linked to the debt acquired by the Mexican government to cover the bonds for the construction of the NAIM in Texcoco, which have the TUA of the AICM as a guarantee of payment. In order to comply, the AICM requires serving a minimum of 40 million total passengers per year, of which 20 million are outgoing and of these, 28% are international.
In the making, the expulsion of cargo and mail aviation, national and international, as well as non-regular charter transport. And the refusal to open new routes. Current contracts at the AICM will no longer be renewed. The airlines that are operating under unilateral permits to the AICM in the following renewal of their annual permits may be renewed for the AIFA.
The AFAC has contributed to the deconcentration of operations in the AICM, authorizing the respective authorizations to air operators and service providers, in order to strengthen the viability and increase in the use of the AIFA airport infrastructure.
The declaration of saturation of the two terminals of the AICM withstood the denial of various requests for assignment of ad hoc schedules, which allowed the number of operations to be reduced. And with the definition of the general bases for the assignment of landing and take-off schedules in airports in saturation conditions, the airlines will not be able to constantly adjust their schedules. The federal authority will establish a limit in terms of slots for the return of these, with so that airlines do not keep schedules that they do not plan to operate.
In the medium term, it is confirmed, the SICT is exploring the possibility of closing the AICM at night for maintenance. Other drastic actions are also contemplated, involving Copa Airlines, Rafhiler, EZNIS —Mongolian aeronautics that would bring cargo flights to AIFA— and Qatar Airways.
The works in terminals 1 and 2 of the AICM involve closing some areas of both terminals and the consequent decrease in operating capacity. But its execution is subject to the commitment in NAIM bonds, the possible resistance of those affected in the return of spaces and the provision of budget resources.
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Journalist and columnist for El Economista, author of Doña Perpetua: Elba Esther Gordillo’s power and opulence. Elba Esther Gordillo against the SEP.