AIFA Will Double Air Passenger Capacity by 2023

Mexico’s Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA) is expected to receive between 600,000 and 700,000 passengers in 2022, as it has received about 300,000 passengers throughout the year.

The airport’s operations are following its Master Development Program, which involves a "soft open or gradual opening, which allows the airport capacities to be in accordance with the development of air operations," said Isidoro Pastor Román, General Director, AIFA, to MBN. Pastor assured that operating in AIFA is optional to Mexican airlines, but he estimates that 45 percent of international cargo will be moved to AIFA from Mexico City’s International Airport (AICM). 

“We have 12 authorized bonded warehouses in the international cargo zone, those 12 warehouses were awarded since March of this year because cargo companies with a sound business vision, due to the airport location, said ´here is the future of cargo’ and that is why they decide to change,” Pastor told A21. 

The growth of Mexico’s aviation industry has been limited by the downgrade of its airspace to Category 2, a problem that local authorities are trying to fix. Pastor deemed vital that Mexico recovers its Category 1, which will increase passenger flights from AIFA and create new routes. He added that foreign airlines have shown interest in operating in AIFA. “Airlines in the US are already working with us to develop routes to Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, and some cities in Florida because they see a potential market of 5 million passengers,” Pastor told MBN. 

Mexico’s largest airlines have also stated their intentions to increase routes, as Aeroméxico, Viva Aerobus and Volaris look to expand into the US. 

AIFA began operations with 12 daily flights and gradually increased to 56. Pastor indicated that AIFA will begin generating profits after two years of operations, approximately between December 2023 and March 2024. 

“Demand in passenger and cargo aviation is already reaching pre-pandemic levels, and the industry is growing annually between 9-10 percent. There is not enough infrastructure in the Valley of Mexico to meet growing demand, so we are sure that additional clients will come to AIFA," Pastor told MBN.