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Airport Mexico City (Mexico) - International

Mexico City International Airport
Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México
IATA: MEX ICAO: MMMX
Summary
Airport type Civil
Owner Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de México
Operator Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares
Serves Mexico City, Mexico
Hub for Aeromexico
Interjet
Mexicana
Aeromar
Elevation AMSL 7,316 ft / 2,230 m
Coordinates 19°2610N 099°0419W / 19.43611°N 99.07194°W / 19.43611; -99.07194
Website www.aicm.com.mx
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
05R/23L 3,900 12,795 Asphalt
05L/23R 3,952 12,966 Asphalt
Statistics (2009)
Aircraft operations 348,306
Passengers 24,243,056
Cargo tonnage 321,133
Source: DAFIF[1][2]

Mexico City International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México or AICM), also called Benito Juárez International Airport (IATA: MEXICAO: MMMX) is a commercial airport that serves Mexico City, the capital of Mexico. It is Mexico's and Latin America's busiest. Although this was not its official name for several decades, it was formally named after the 19th century president Benito Juárez in 2006, and is Mexico's main international and domestic gateway. In recent years Toluca airport has become a major alternate airport.

This hot and high airport offers direct flights to more than 100 destinations worldwide. In 2009, the airport served 24,243,056 passengers, a decrease of 7.5% compared with 2008, who received 26,210,217. This modest decline was mainly due to the global financial crisis and the outbreak of influenza. In optimal conditions, and with the current renovations and expansion projects completed, the Benito Juárez airport will be able to handle up to 32 million passengers per year.[3]. It provides non-stop services from Mexico City to North America, Central America and Caribbean, South America, Europe and Asia.

As the main hub for Mexico's largest airline Aeroméxico and a secondary hub for its subsidiary Aeroméxico Connect, the airport has become a SkyTeam hub. In addition, the airport is a Oneworld hub, Mexicana and its subsidiary MexicanaClick being part of this alliance.

AICM is Latin America's busiest airport.[4] The airport houses a wide variety of lodging options for its passengers, including hotels inside Terminal 1 (the Hilton Hotel, the Camino Real, and the Fiesta Inn), also a NH Hotel at Terminal 2.

Contents

History

The airport first opened as Balbuena Military Airport. The first landing was on November 5, 1928 and regular service started a year later, but was officially inaugurated on May 15, 1931. Its first international route was to Los Angeles International Airport operated by Mexicana. President Miguel Aleman opened the terminal in 1952, which signifies the official disappearing of the Balbuena Military Airport. In 1980, the terminal was expanded to duplicate its capacity, using a single terminal concept rather than multiple terminals as in other airports. Ten years later in 1990, the mixed domestic international gates were separated to increase the terminal's functionality, along with the separation of domestic and international check-in halls.

In 2001, the east wing of the terminal was opened, being an international last wait area and was mainly used by SkyTeam members. Former president Vicente Fox launched a program called Expansion of Mexico City Airport to its Maximum Capacity in 2002 to increase the airport's capabilities. The whole terminal was expanded and upgraded with new check-in halls, 13 more baggage claim belts, the separation of the terminal into Departures and Arrivals floors, construction of several new taxiways and a whole new terminal at the other side of the airport, breaking the single terminal concept but the only way to relief the saturated terminal 1. The project was started with an initial investment of $200,000,000 MXP. Nevertheless, its final cost was $800,000,000 MXP. Old Terminal 2 which only housed Aeromar's operations in and out the airport was demolished, and the new terminal was built in less than two years.

On November 15, 2007, terminal 2 was opened, increasing the airport's operational capability by 40%. All SkyTeam members moved their operations to it, except Air France and KLM. It was officially inaugurated on March 2008, once the new road accesses and taxiways were finished. Terminal 2 increased the airport's contact positions by 40%, and the operational capacity by 15%. Terminal 2 is connected to the Domestic Building of Terminal 1 by the Aerotrén monorail system, by which a transfer between both buildings is possible in less than 7 minutes.

Lack of capacity and slot restriction

The airport has suffered since the early 1990s from a lack of capacity due to the limitation of space at its surroundings, since it is located in a densely-populated area and has no more space for expansion. Some analysts have reported that if the airport had grown at the same speed as demand, it would now serve over 40 million passengers annually. The main issue with the airport is the limitation that its two runways provide, since they are used at 97.3% of their maximum capacity, leaving a very short room for new operations into the airport. Only government, military and commercial aircraft are allowed to land at the airport. Private aircraft must use alternate airports, such as Lic. Adolfo Lopez Mateos International Airport in Toluca, General Mariano Matamoros Airport in Cuernavaca or Hermanos Serdán International Airport in Puebla. Even with the inauguration of new Terminal 2, the airport would be ideally designed to serve around 18 million passengers per year, according to the international standards for runway and terminal usage. Instead, the airport will keep increasing the number of passengers from around 26 million passengers in 2008 at a rate of 16% per year.

Airport Specifications

Terminal 1


Terminal 2


Terminal 2 is now housing all Aeroméxico flights out of the airport, becoming the airlines's main distribution center. Although the terminal was intended to be served by all-SkyTeam member airlines, Air France and KLM are not moving their operations until the new cargo terminal is built aside Terminal 2, since the existing one is at the other side of the airport.



Terminals, airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations Terminal
Aeromar Acapulco, Aguascalientes, Ciudad Victoria, Colima, Lázaro Cárdenas, Manzanillo, Morelia, Poza Rica, Saltillo, San Luis Potosí, Tepic, Xalapa, Zacatecas 2
Aeroméxico Acapulco, Aguascalientes, Atlanta [resumes May 1], Barcelona, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Cancún, Chicago-O'Hare, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Culiacán, Denver [seasonal], Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Houston-Intercontinental [seasonal], Las Vegas, León/El Bajío, Lima, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mérida, Miami, Monterrey, New York-JFK, Ontario, Orlando, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Phoenix, Puerto Vallarta, San Diego, San Francisco, San José de Costa Rica [begins March 26][5], San José del Cabo, Santiago de Chile, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Seattle/Tacoma [seasonal], Shanghai-Pudong [resumes March 26][6], Tijuana, Tokyo-Narita, Toronto-Pearson [ends April 4], Villahermosa 2
Aeroméxico Connect Acapulco, Aguascalientes, Campeche, Chihuahua, Ciudad del Carmen, Ciudad Obregón, Ciudad Victoria, Cozumel, Culiacán, Durango, Guadalajara, Houston-Intercontinental, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, La Paz, León/El Bajío, Los Mochis, Matamoros, Mazatlán, Mérida, Monterrey, Morelia, New Orleans, Nuevo Laredo, Oaxaca, Poza Rica, Puerto Vallarta, Reynosa, San Antonio, San Luis Potosí, San Pedro Sula, Tampico, Tapachula, Tijuana, Torreón/Gómez Palacio, Veracruz, Villahermosa, Zacatecas 2
Aeroméxico Travel Cancún, Cozumel, Huatulco, Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Cana 2
Air Canada Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson 1
Air France Paris-Charles de Gaulle 1
Alaska Airlines Los Angeles 1
American Airlines Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami 1
Avianca Bogotá 1
British Airways London-Heathrow 1
Continental Airlines Houston-Intercontinental, Newark 2
Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines Houston-Intercontinental 2
Copa Airlines Panama City 2
Cubana de Aviación Havana 1
Delta Air Lines Atlanta, Detroit, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City 2
Iberia Madrid 1
Interjet Cancún, Ciudad del Carmen, Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Obregón, Culiacán, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Huatulco [seasonal], Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo [seasonal], Los Mochis, Mérida, Monterrey, San José del Cabo, Tampico, Tapachula, Tijuana, Tuxtla Gutiérrez 1
KLM Amsterdam 1
LACSA Guatemala City, San José de Costa Rica 1
LAN AirlinesA Cancún, Santiago de Chile 2
LAN Peru Cancún, Lima 2
Lufthansa Frankfurt 1
Magnicharters Cancún, Huatulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Manzanillo, Mérida, Monterrey, Puerto Vallarta, San José del Cabo 1
Mexicana Bogotá, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Calgary, Cancún, Caracas, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Guadalajara, Guatemala City, Havana, Las Vegas, London-Gatwick, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexicali, Miami, Monterrey, Montréal-Trudeau, New York-JFK, Orlando, Panama City, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Francisco, San José de Costa Rica, San José del Cabo, San Salvador, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Tijuana, Toronto-Pearson, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Vancouver, Washington-Dulles 1
MexicanaClick Acapulco, Chetumal, Ciudad del Carmen, Cozumel [seasonal], Culiacán, Guadalajara, Havana, Huatulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, León, Mazatlán, Mérida, Mexicali, Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos, Nuevo Laredo, Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, Puerto Vallarta, Reynosa, San José del Cabo, San Luis Potosí, Tampico, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Veracruz, Villahermosa 1
MexicanaLink Campeche, Guadalajara, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Manzanillo, Mazatlán, Torreón/Gómez Palacio, Zacatecas 1
TACA Guatemala City, San Salvador 1
TACA Perú Lima 1
United Airlines Chicago O'Hare [seasonal; resumes May 29], Denver [seasonal], Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington-Dulles 1
US Airways Charlotte, Phoenix 1
Volaris Tijuana [begins March 22] 1

A:^  LAN and LanPeru flights to/from Cancún are only for non-domestic, connecting traffic.

Cargo Airlines

Airlines Destinations
ABX Air Los Angeles, New York-JFK
Aerounión Chicago-O'Hare, Guadalajara, Los Angeles
Air France Cargo Guadalajara, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Porto
Amerijet International Guadalajara, Miami, Monterrey
Astar Air Cargo Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Miami
Atlas Air Huntsville
Cargolux Houston-Intercontinental, Guadalajara, Luxembourg, Miami, New York-JFK
Centurion Air Cargo Miami
Cielos Airlines Lima
DHL Aviation Miami
DHL de Guatemala Guatemala City
Estafeta Hermosillo, Mérida, Miami, San Luis Potosí, Villahermosa
Florida West International Airways Miami
Lufthansa Cargo Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Frankfurt
MasAir Bogotá, Caracas, Guadalajara, Los Angeles, Medellín, Miami, Quito
Regional Cargo Cancún, Mérida
Tampa Cargo Bogotá
UPS Louisville

Airlines that provides on-demand cargo services.

Statistics

Passenger traffic

Year Total passengers[7]  % change
2006 24,727,296 2.5%
2007 25,881,662 4.7%
2008 26,210,217 1.3%
2009 24,243,056 -7.5%

Operations

Busiest International Routes out of Mexico City International Airport [2009]
Rank City Passengers
1 Los Angeles, USA 341,906
2 New York, USA 275,526
3 Miami, USA 272,976
4 Houston, USA 267,589
5 Madrid, Spain 215,205
6 Dallas, USA 179,905
7 Paris, France 178,350
8 Chicago, USA 171,197
9 Panama City, Panama 134,819
10 San Francisco, USA 115,321
11 Atlanta, USA 104,296
12 Guatemala City, Guatemala 102,136
13 Frankfurt, Germany 99,560
14 Bogotá, Colombia 92,769
15 San José, Costa Rica 91,427
16 Toronto, Canada 88,645
17 Las Vegas, USA 88,321
18 Amsterdam, Netherlands 82,877
19 São Paulo, Brazil 78,110
20 Buenos Aires, Argentina 75,024
Busiest Domestic Routes out of Mexico City International Airport [2009]
Rank City Passengers
1 Cancún, Quintana Roo 962,747
2 Monterrey, Nuevo León 947,243
3 Guadalajara, Jalisco 844,015
4 Tijuana, Baja California 352,544
5 Mérida, Yucatán 338,356
6 Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas 315,720
7 Villahermosa, Tabasco 276,148
8 Veracruz, Veracruz 272,025
9 Hermosillo, Sonora 216,971
10 Acapulco, Guerrero 206,483
11 Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco 198,993
12 Tampico, Tamaulipas 188,090
13 Los Cabos, Baja California Sur 186,143
14 Oaxaca, Oaxaca 182,861
15 Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua 179,518
16 Bahías de Huatulco, Oaxaca 145,708
17 Torreón/Gómez Palacio, Coahuila 138,511
18 Culiacán, Sinaloa 133,507
19 Chihuahua, Chihuahua 120,024
20 Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Guerrero 114,514

Ground transportation

Metro and bus services

The airport is served by the Terminal Aérea Metro station, located just outside the national terminal; it also has a Bus Terminal, which is served by various bus lines [1] with routes to Cuernavaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Toluca, Pachuca, and Córdoba. Whilst the airport always had a bus area, the terminal building itself was created in 2003, to accommodate the many passengers that utilise bus service.

Accidents and Incidents

See also

References

External links


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