The Grupo Aeroporutario del Pacifico (GAP), operators of 13 Pacific Coast airports in Mexico, began work earlier this week on several projects in the Guadalajara International Airport they say will greatly improve a variety of services in the long term – but will most likely cause delays for users in the short term.
The works, which taken together will cost close to a billion pesos, include a new passenger inspection location, the modernization and expansion of several waiting rooms, and extensive road work.
The roadworks will cause the most delays. They include a one-lane expansion of the main access arterial and the installation of 2,100 square meters of pedestrian cover in front of the main terminal building.
Sala A will see the installation of eight new gates – which authorities say will increase passenger flow by 1,200 persons per hour – and a 3,000-square meter lounge area.
The new inspection point will, according to GAP, reduce walking distance for international travelers and increase passenger processing by 1,250 persons per hour.
The recently-initiated renovations share an urgency with two other projects planned by GAP: the connecting of Terminal 1 with the currently-unused Terminal 2, and the construction of a second runway. The Guadalajara Airport already accounts for nine percent of the country’s passenger traffic - coming in third behind Mexico City and Cancun - and ships 17 percent of its cargo. Business leaders in the city say a second runway is a major priority given the huge surge in activity expected over the next decade.
Further complicating things for commuters coming in and out of the airport via automobile will be the continued protests of the “El Zapote” farm collective, who have been airing a grievance against the airport and its management since construction of the facility in the mid-1970s regarding government compensation for appropriated lands. They have doubled their efforts in response to the lane expansion and other work, staging sit-ins designed to obstruct construction. One of the group’s banners, placed in such a way to be easily legible from the road, reads “Not one meter more until we’re paid for the ‘old problem.’”
Notwithstanding potential delays caused by the protests and other potential factors, authorities expect the new renovations to take effect during the first half of 2018.