Viva Aerobus says AMLO’s AIFA Airport should become International Hub

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Mexico’s newest airport has the capacity and infrastructure to become the capital’s central international hub, according to the head of one of the country’s largest carriers.

Despite offering just a handful of flights each day, Felipe Angeles International Airport is “undoubtedly” capable of supplanting Mexico City’s main airport known as Benito Juarez in the coming years, Grupo Viva Aerobus SAB Chief Executive Officer Juan Carlos Zuazua said in an interview.

“They built a good airport. It has an infinitely larger capacity — the terminal is one kilometer long,” he said. “It’s just a matter of how users are going to become familiarized with this airport. It’s not going to happen overnight, it takes time.”

Since opening in March to relieve traffic at the main hub, Felipe Angeles hasn’t won many supporters. Critics say the airport’s location — about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the city’s center — is far from ideal and that the converted military base is not a good place for a commercial airport, given the area’s unique geography. Others point to the unfinished roads surrounding the airport, saying the project was rushed along on a shoestring budget.

Read More: AMLO’s New Airport Opens With Hoopla, Criticism, 8 Flights a Day

The airport was the first of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s large infrastructure projects to be completed, and if it’s going to overtake Benito Juarez, Felipe Angeles has a long way to go.

The new airport handled fewer than 1,200 flights from its March inauguration until June, the latest available data show. By comparison, Benito Juarez handles more than 900 operations per day, on average.

Source: El Financiero

Mexico Daily Post