THE Mexican authorities have decided to once again cap the number of flights to theMexico City Benito Juarez International Airport (AICM), moving from 52 to 43 movements per hour from the January 8, 2024despite protests from airlines.
This new cap will only concern domestic flights, international traffic will not be affected. Authorities will give airlines a grace period so they can reorganize their flight schedules and transfer their passengers on canceled flights to earlier flights.
The first reason for this new cap is the overcapacity of AICM, the main airport in the capital Mexico City. Flight operations at AICM, which is operating at 150% capacity, are “very risky“, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday. Last year, his administration opened the Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA) north of AICM to decongest the latter, and for the first time reduced aircraft movements from 62 to 52 per hour at AICM.
A former military airport located about fifty kilometers northeast of Mexico City, AIFA has not met with the success hoped for, with airlines preferring to operate at AICM, much closer to the capital’s city center.
