Consultant Insight: Mexico City airspace safety is a growing concern

Mexico inaugurated the new Felipe Angeles International Airport (NLU) in March with the aim of alleviating pressure from the Benito Juarez International Airport (MEX), the main airport serving Mexico City but the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is concerned about safety in the area. [caption id="attachment_69752" align="alignright" width="298"] Cathy Roberson, Cargo Facts Consulting senior consultant and Air Cargo World columnist[/caption] Located just 27 miles north of Mexico City, NLU has the capacity to handle almost 120,000 operations and transport around 19 million people per year. The airport has 12 remote positions for commercial flights, 10 for cargo operations and another 26 for executive aircraft. Aeromexico, Volaris, Viva Aerobus and the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa are among the carriers currently operating at the new airport. However, the overall redesign of Mexico City’s airspace to accommodate the new airport has resulted in an increase in safety issues. Now, IATA is expressing concern over at least 17 warnings since April 2021 regarding MEX’s alert system, which notifies when planes are in danger of flying into the ground or an obstacle. In addition, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has said there were several incidents during the past month in which aircraft arrived with low fuel due to unplanned holding and diversions for excessive delays, according to Bloomberg . As a result, Mexico’s Transportation and Infrastructure Undersecretary, Rogelio Jimenez Pons, announced May 4 that the government will reduce by 20% the number of flights allowed to land at MEX, effective July 1. Critics of NLU also are saying its location too far away from the center of Mexico City. Rail and road links to the new airport have yet to be completed and many major international airlines and local taxi services have so far shunned the new airport. Mexico’s aviation safety remains a concern despite the planned traffic reduction. The country’s aviation-safety ranking was downgraded by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in May 2021, prohibiting an expansion of flights from the nation’s carriers to the U.S. The FAA found that Mexico’s ability to oversee its airlines falls short of standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Public resources totaling 2.53 billion pesos (US$123.7 million) will be spent on airport projects this year, according to Mexico’s Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT). About $33.4 million will be allocated to upgrades and maintenance at MEX. In terms of volumes, airfreight movement between the U.S. and Mexico is on the rise. For 2021, total airfreight volume, in kilograms, was up 21.4% year over year. For the first three months of 2022, airfreight volume, in kilograms, rose by 23.7%. Much of the volume increase in airfreight is likely related to shippers’ need to shift from trucking to airfreight due to capacity constraints within the U.S. trucking market and the need to quickly receive inventories for manufacturing purposes or to satisfy consumer demand. MEX began operations in 1929, but its ability to expand has been limited due to urban encroachment, according to AirportHistory.org . A number of local and regional airports have been upgraded since the 1960s but have had little impact on relieving MEX operations. The Air Cargo Tech Summit, the new airfreight logistics event presented by Air Cargo World , will take place LIVE in Miami from June 6-7. Learn more and register here.

Consultant Insight: Mexico City airspace safety is a growing concern

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