Following the decree to cancel cargo operations at the AICM, published in February by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico City International Airport gives its witness to the new Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA).
From 2 February, when the measure was officially communicated, the freight companies started a back account in which, within a maximum of 108 working days, they had to assume the change.
“The Benito Juárez International Airport of Mexico City is closed, for the operations of concessionaries and licensees that provide the service to the public of domestic and international regular and non-regular air transport, exclusive of cargo. Exceptions are made to concessionaries and licensees that provide combined passenger and cargo services, provided that the cargo is transported on the same aircraft as the passengers”, the letter states.
In this regard, before 7 July, airlines will have to adjust their operations to relocate the more than 570,000 tonnes of cargo annually that are managed in the old terminal and account for 3% of the total flights.
The direct impact of this measure, advanced by the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport, estimates that each licensee will have to deal with the disbursement of the equivalent of between 30.000 and 50.000 euros for the relocation of equipment, the hiring of personnel and the changes in their current licensing permits to operate in AIFA.
However, beyond the economic prism, there are a number of other aspects that have raised multiple logistical questions around the change that, from COTRANSA, we want to respond to.
Why were the operatives moved?
The decision to close the capital skies to freight flights responds, according to the authorities, to the need for “more space at the airport, which is saturated” and to give more use to the AIFA facilities, “good and modern”.
Thus, one of the main arguments for this counter-clock measure is the saturation of the AICM’s operations, despite the fact that 97% of the total flights are passengers and not goods.
Where is the new airport?
Since the measure was announced, some companies have begun to migrate their operations to Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), better known by the IATA code NLU. This is 40 km away from Mexico City, the equivalent of a two-hour truck ride.
However, the allocation of trucks may take up to 5 or 6 days, depending on the delay and availability of these trucks.
Is the new airport already authorized to carry out the customs procedures?
The NLU airport is not yet authorized to process the customs clearance, so loads unloaded there must be transported to Mexico City airport, which implies an increase in transit time and additional costs.
What are we doing in Cotransa?
At COTRANSA we are ready for change. We have a distribution centre located between airports with several advantages, such as a storage area of 16,360 square meters, exclusive refrigeration chambers for pharmaceutical and perishable products, COFEPRIS sanitary license, Senasica inspection point and CEIV PHARMA, ISO 9001 and OEA certifications.
Given the new situation, we recommend checking the destination airport before making a reservation and using other airports according to the final delivery. Whenever additional costs arise on the part of the airline or handlings, we will notify our customers immediately.
