EconomyFinancialWhat does the migration of flights from AICM to...

What does the migration of flights from AICM to AIFA imply? 3 graphics explain it

A little less than two months after the operations of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), the federal government reached an agreement with the airlines to increase operations in the new facility, at the cost of freezing the current commercial offer of the AICM and moving some operations to complete.

Yesterday, the Ministry of the Interior (Segob) announced that, as a result of a meeting between the Secretaries of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SICT), the National Defense (Sedena, also operator of AIFA) and the Navy (Semar) with directors of Aeroméxico, Viva Aerobus and Volaris, it was agreed to increase the AIFA offer to 100 daily operations from the current 12 that make up the airline’s six operating flights.

The agreements entail other changes such as maintaining the takeoff and landing times (also known as slots ) assigned to airlines for the summer, and preventing the entry of new flights and operations in the AICM.

However, some of the most drastic measures involve the total migration of both domestic cargo and charter flights – those marketed through non-traditional channels, generally for groups – from the AICM to the AIFA “immediately”.

more slots

The new agreement with the airlines is to maintain the current allocation of slots for this year’s summer season, a distribution that, unlike the pre-pandemic market, favors the main airlines in the country.

While Aeroméxico remains the main airline in terms of takeoff and landing times at the AICM; Volaris and Viva Aerobus climbed to the second and third rungs, respectively, after the departure of Interjet, which before its cessation of operations was the second largest airline in terms of slots , with more than 50,000 slots that were redistributed among its competitors.

It stands out that in this year’s summer season, 258,699 slots were assigned to 40 airlines, a number of slots that even exceeds the 2019 allocation, when 243,609 slots were distributed.

Migration of national cargo

The agreements also contemplate the migration of the national cargo operations from the AICM to the AIFA “immediately”.

In Mexico, eight airlines operate cargo in the domestic market, most with a large presence in the AICM. These are headed by the logistics operator Estafeta, which even has growth plans for this segment that gained particular momentum from the pandemic, in which the pressure on global supply chains focused on the immediacy that air transport offered for merchandise.

Aeroméxico is the second largest airline in national cargo transportation, followed by Volaris, which rebounded due to the departure of Interjet, one of the biggest players before the pandemic. Other Mexican freighters such as Mas Air also have an important presence.

What about charter flights?

Although charter flights do not have large volumes, their importance to connect with some markets is crucial, such as the international one.

In the country, charter flights transported just over 321,000 passengers during 2021. While in the domestic market the airline Magnicharters has the largest share of the market, in the international market – which makes up 77% of passengers – it shares the leadership with Viva Aerobus and Volaris.

Other Central American and European airlines have also had a boom in these operations, mainly aimed at serving the vacation segment.

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