Second Terminal to Be Constructed at Guadalajara Airport

Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (GAP) announced it will construct a second terminal for the Guadalajara International Airport (AIG). The construction will increase the airport's capacity to closer resemble that of Mexico City International Airport (AICM). 

According to GAP, the project will require an estimated investment of US$387.5 million and consists of constructing a terminal on a 150,000m² surface. This area currently hosts the general aviation area of the airport. The company said that these hangars will be relocated to new facilities that will be ready by the end of 1H23. 

The project will also include the construction of a new runway with a 3.5km length, which will increase the airport’s operational capacity by 60 percent, allowing it to handle between 800 and 900 flight operations daily.

After this expansion, AIG will be the fourth-largest airport with two runways in the country. Currently, Mexico has only three airports with double runways: Cancun International Airport, whose second runway was constructed nearby to not affect its operations, AICM and Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA). “It is the only [Mexican] airport operating while constructing a second runway [on the premises], as if we were changing a car’s wheel while driving it,” said Martín Zazueta, Airport Director, AIG. 

The new general aviation area will be developed on an area of 101ha, which GAP bought from Santa Cruz del Valle ejido. According to Zazueta, the hangars of the Bank of Mexico, the Attorney’s General Office and the Mexican Airforce will be placed there.

The construction of Terminal 2 is part of the modernization and expansion plan of AIG called the Guadalajara Plan, which also aims to revamp and expand the current infrastructure of the airport. According to Zazueta, the construction of the new terminal will start in 2024 and will be ready by 2026. Both projects will increase the airport's capacity to 40 million users annually, which is close to AICM’s capacity of 45 million users. Zazueta stated that by 2040, AIG could operate at a capacity of 45 million passengers a year. 

Zazueta said that after the pandemic’s travel slump, the airport is recovering its 2019 numbers  in 2022. AIG forecasted that by the end of the year it will reach 15 million users.

AIG is the third-busiest airport in terms of users in Mexico, just behind AICM and Cancun International Airport. It is also the second-busiest for cargo. AIG is located 17km south of the city of Guadalajara.