Route to Caracas and charter flights
The AIFA started operations with various routes, including a flight to Caracas made by the Venezuelan airline Conviasa. The intention then was to keep this route active in the days after the inauguration of AIFA.
But, currently, the flight is available sporadically. Even the Federal Civil Aviation Association (AFAC) has registered these operations as charter flights –or charter flights–, that is to say that they are not marketed through the usual channels and that they do not have a regular frequency.
In addition to the Caracas flight, charter flights have departed from the new airport to minneapolis Y Havanawhile the new airport has received others from Jamaica (Kingston), Guatemala, Honduras and United States (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), according to AFAC data, these operations fall into the category of chartering.
Arajet, route to Santo Domingo
The opening of regular commercial flights came until the incursion of the Dominican airline arajetwhich began flying to the capital of the Dominican Republic from AIFA in September 2022.
The new Dominican airline offers three frequencies per week to Santo Domingo.
Copa Airlines, route to Panama
Similarly, the Panamanian Copa Airlines started regular flights to AIFA, serving more than 4,000 users in its first month.
As of September 26, 2022, it offers three weekly frequencies between AIFA and Panama: on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, departing at 9:20 in the morning from Tocumen International Airport, Panama (local time) and arriving at Felipe Angeles, in Mexico City, at 1:22 p.m. (local time).
The return flight will depart the same days at 3:29 p.m., arriving in Panama at 7:22 p.m. (local time).
Viva Aerobus, route to Havana
Viva Aerobus became the first Mexican airline to operate an international flight at AIFA, when it inaugurated its route to Havana, Cuba.
“We see an attractive market opportunity to connect the capital of Mexico with tourist and beach destinations that are national and international benchmarks,” said Juan Carlos Zuazua, CEO of Viva Aerobus, quoted in a May 2023 statement.
Then the airline said that the flight to Havana would operate daily with rates starting at $189 plus TUA.
Aeromexico, route to Houston
Aeromexico announced at the end of January 2023 that would open a new international route from the AIFA. The airline obtained the necessary authorizations to start direct flights from the new airport to houstonTexas.
This route, the first that connects the AIFA with the United States, will begin operations on May 1, 2023 with a daily flight in Embraer 190 equipment.
Avianca analyzes a route to Colombia
Avianca has said that it would consider it viable to operate in the AIFA if the domestic flights open for foreign airlinesan initiative that the federal government has promoted to attract more international airlines to the new airport.
Until now, the operation of these connecting flights to the interior of the country is exclusive to Mexican airlines, but the fact that foreign airlines could also make them seems to be the only way in which the Colombian giant would show interest in the airport, something that date has not occurred.
Why aren’t there many international flights from AIFA?
Despite the efforts of the federal government to attract foreign airlines, of the 691,778 passengers it has received since its start of operations, only 3% have taken an international flightconsidering charters, and industry conditions suggest that this trend will continue in 2023.
Between March and November of last year, AIFA served 33,686 international passengers.
One of the impediments to opening international routes has been the degradation of Category 1 to Category 2 in air safety, which prevents Mexican airlines from opening new routes and increasing frequencies to the United States.
This has limited companies like Volaris, which intended to open a route to Los Angeles from AIFA by December 2022, a plan that was later postponed due to lack of category.
With information from Juan Tolentino