The new configuration puts pilots and operators in unnecessary predicaments.
The reconfiguration of the airspace in the Valley of Mexico to accommodate the operation of AIFA has resulted in more problems than solutions and the new configuration puts pilots and air operators in unnecessary predicaments, said Juan Carlos Machorro, partner at the firm Santamarina y Steta.
The partner in charge of the Transactional area and an expert in aeronautics and airport infrastructure, said that the reconfiguration results in longer approach routes, delays, excessive fuel consumption and noise pollution. And this is with AICM operating at 70 percent of the pre-pandemic stage.
Machorro reviewed the counterproductive measures that have generated costs and risks for the Mexican airport system. He stressed that for more than 30 years, all serious feasibility studies have shown that the only viable alternative is Texcoco.
"We are suffering the result of acting on the basis of a consultation without methodological rigor and without any legal basis. Through consultation and decree, the most important airport infrastructure project in the country was cancelled and the forced reconfiguration of a military base was initiated.
"By decree, the management of passengers is intended to be carried out through the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) and the AICM has been in intensive care for years due to deteriorating operational and financial health. In addition, he said that by cancelling the Texcoco project, an airport that was destined to close permanently is kept alive.
Now, AICM's main income, the TUA, is transferred entirely to pay the MexCat Bonds, issued to finance the Texcoco project. "AICM's largest income is condemned to pay the debt of a cancelled project, which will not exist for decades to come," he said.
Source: Reform
