The Latin American Air Transport Association (ALTA) asked the authorities for a minimum period of 12 months to achieve a migration to the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) in an articulated manner and with an “efficient and safe service” for importers and exporters.
“We are highly concerned about the draft decree that provides for the closure of the AICM for air cargo transport operations and the authorization of the AIFA for this purpose. The facilities and processes for the import and export of cargo are not fully enabled in the AIFA, as is the case of the physical infrastructure of warehouses, certification of ground support operators, customs agents and cargo agents, “he said. José Ricardo Botelho, president of the executive committee of ALTA.
At the same time, Ertan Alpay, CEO of Turkish Airlines Mexico, He considered that the publication of the decree should be suspended until an “in-depth analysis” is carried out and with the “active participation” of all the authorities related to air cargo transport.
The airline currently operates mixed transport schemes – that is, passengers and cargo – and exclusive cargo; however, he warned that the latter depends on the connectivity of the former since the costs of the services in both schemes are competitive “because the operation of cargo flights guarantees the offer of services and competitive rates to the passenger transport industry and promotes the transportation of the latter to and from Mexico”.
For this reason, operating both services at different airports “would create the need to maintain infrastructure, personnel, and attention to independent loading procedures at each of the stations, which would greatly increase the costs of loading services and other inherent expenses.” to its operation,” said the manager.
Also, the Luxembourg company Cargolux He also requested the suspension of the publication of the decree until the project had been analyzed “in depth” and with the participation of the cargo companies and affected companies.
“Cargolux is not in a position to assess, in such a short period of time, all the elements and operational needs involved in modifying the routes that are currently operated to the AICM, under a certified and effective scheme that guarantees the safety of civil aviation”, said Piergiorgio Curci, vice president for the Americas at Cargolux.
Even the company warned that, given the haste in the publication of the draft, “it has not had the opportunity (…) to analyze its own relocation costs outside the AICM.”
The calls by ALTA, Turkish Airlines and Cargolux join those made by other organizations such as the National Chamber of Air Transport (Canaero), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), as well as airlines such as More, Air France and AeroUnion on the haste of the decree. Even the Mexican Estafeta warned that its departure from the AICM would cost 100.5 million pesos and would take 16 months.
To date, the German DHL is the only one that has announced a flight to AIFA, although it did not report whether it would maintain its operations at AICM.