Everything you need to know about Mexico’s US$4bn AIFA airport

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) cut the ribbon on Mexico’s 84.9bn-peso (US$4bn) Felipe Ángeles international airport (AIFA) Monday following two years of controversies over location, costs, administrators and the decision to have it built by defense ministry Sedena.

Although AMLO and members of his Morena party celebrated the inauguration as a triumph, several matters regarding the civil-military facility must still be addressed.

Among these are unfinished transport projects to connect it to the surrounding areas, its next construction stage to reach full capacity, and negotiations to attract more airlines, in addition to convincing passengers to opt for the new facility rather than the more conveniently located Benito Juárez international airport (AICM) in Mexico City. 

AIFA features two new runways, one for civil and one for military use; a new control tower; passenger and cargo terminals; and amenities such as restaurants, a hotel, shopping mall and housing units for soldiers. 

The overall project also involves a second construction stage, to be built according to passenger demand, Sedena construction engineer first captain Martín Méndez Balleza, told BNamericas during a tour in August. 

CAPEX

According to the finance ministry’s last update from July, AIFA’s final cost was 200bn pesos less than the Mexico City international airport (NAICM) the previous administration started but the AMLO administration canceled in favor of AIFA.

However, the government also compensatedNAICM contractors with 113bn pesos, according to reviews by federal auditing authority ASF. 

While AMLO claimed the AIFA facility saved the government 120bn pesos, the ASF review would put the figure at 88bn pesos, but the definitive costs and benefits are still being debated. 

UNFINISHED WORKS

In early 2020, the government presented several mobility projects to reach AIFA mainly from Mexico City and Mexico state. The works were planned to be supervised by state and capital authorities; the infrastructure, communications and transportation ministry (SICT), and Sedena. 

While all works were expected to be completed before the terminal’s inauguration, interior deputy minister Rabindranath Salazar Solorio told reporters on March 15 that the 21.9bn-peso Lechería-AIFA rail branch and the expansion of Mexico state’s Mexibús BRT line No. 4 will not be ready on time but still before the end of the administration in 2024. 

The government planned more than a dozen works for reaching AIFA.

In mid-March, AMLO said the rail branch will be ready in 1Q23, acknowledging that the project’s main obstacle is related to the acquisition of rights-of-way. The line will extend the suburban rail system between Buenavista station in Mexico City and Cuautitlán in Mexico state and further reach northeast to AIFA from Lechería station, two stops before Cuautitlán.

According to previous announcements, works will be carried out by SICT, the project’s main supervisor; Sedena; agrarian, territorial and urban development ministry Sedatu; and Spanish railway operator CAF, which operates the line. 

Regarding the BRT expansion, Mexico state’s mass transit and cable car systems authority, Sitramytem, told BNamericas at the end of February that it was working on two expansions to reach the airport.

The first concerns the 20km expansion of Mexibús line No. 1, ready on inauguration day, and the second concerns the expansion of line No. 4, which is being delayed due to works on the Tonanitla highway, on which the BRT line will run.

While not mentioned by authorities, other planned highway works are not completed either, even though they appear on an official list of finished projects.

For example, the 8bn-peso Zaragoza elevated viaduct (no.14  on the list below) has not been tendered, and the status of other already-awarded public-private partnership projects such as the 8.7bn-peso Tultepec-AIFA-Pirámides highway (No. 8 and 9) and the 4.7bn-peso Oeste highway link to AIFA in Mexico state (No. 7) remain unknown. 

Official AIFA projects list

TRAVEL SOLUTIONS

The federal government announced air taxi services will be available between AIFA and Mexico City’s upscale district of Polanco. 

Besides, some Mexico City bus services have been enabled and the three national airlines operating at AIFA said they will also offer road transport services. 

AICM is nearly 50km from AIFA, about 90min by car. 

OPERATING AIRLINES

So far, the government has closed deals with VivaAerobús, Volaris and AeroMéxico, in addition to Venezuelan airline Conviasa, which will start operating at AIFA on March 21.

VivaAerobús will offer flights to Nuevo León state capital Monterrey and Jalisco state capital Guadalajara, Volaris to Baja California`s Tijuana and Quintana Roo tourism hub Cancún, AeroMéxico to Yucatán state capital Mérida and Tabasco state capital Villahermosa, and Conviasa to Caracas.

In February, AMLO said the airport will be managed by a military-owned company called Olmeca-Maya-Mexica, which would also oversee other facilities such as the planned Tulum airport in Quintana Roo state, the Palenque airport in Chiapas state, and the Chetumal airport, also in Quintana Roo.