Cancun Quintana Roo. The tourism sector was concerned about the air connection limitations in Mexico City, which could be accentuated once work begins on Terminal 2.
Companies in the sector called for “reliable alternatives” for the movement of travelers at a time when the mood of tourists continues to rise, but they face several challenges in terms of airport capacity.
The National Tourist Business Council (CNET), for example, pointed out the shortcomings of the system of three airports in the metropolitan area of the Valley of Mexico, which although it is the commitment of the federal government to replace the New Mexico International Airport (NAIM), has performed poorly.
“If the government opted for the airport system with Toluca, with the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) and the AICM, what we want is for it to work,” said Braulio Arsuaga, president of CNET, during the 28th edition of the National Congress of the Meetings Industry.
The statement from the business body comes in the middle of a day of problems for the capital’s airport. To the security alerts due to the redesign of the airspace, infrastructural irregularities have been added to Terminal 2, which will be sought to be reinforced through the government of Mexico City.
Even President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said this morning that AICM flights would be reduced due to their saturation.
“The AIFA cannot be used, and if it cannot be used and we have only one runway [at the AICM], a structural problem at the airport and we have saturation, then the airport system will not work. What we want is for work because we need mobility in tourism,” said Arsuaga.
Saturation of the AICM, an opportunity for other cities
Regarding the saturation of the AICM, José Ángel Gurría, former secretary of foreign affairs and of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), considered that it has provided an opportunity for airports in other regions of the country to become connection centers (or air hubs ), as the NAIM sought to do at the time.
“Here we are talking about a place where it has become a hub,” he said, referring to Cancun, whose airport concentrates flights to various destinations in the United States, Canada and Europe that are not accessible from Mexico City.
“They are adjusting, for example, in Tijuana. There is the Cross Border Xpress, it is very interesting, very important, and what has happened? Many eastbound flights leave from Tijuana, and it became a hub .”
Gurría, who will preside over the Paris Forum for Peace starting next year, added that infrastructural issues may go unnoticed, but for companies the attractiveness in financial terms is high.
“What is happening is that, faced with opportunities, alternatives immediately arise, because there are profits, there are profits. So you should never underestimate creativity, invention and the sense of desire to benefit”, he said.
