The Mexican government is looking to reduce the number of flights arriving and departing the Mexico City International Airport by 1,000 a week (from 52 to 43 per hour), approximately 20 percent, according to aviation industry sources.
Ostensibly, this is in order to reduce congestion in the skies surrounding the airport, the government has said. But many analysts say the principal reason is to force airlines into using the new Felipe Angeles International Airport, located to the north of the capital—a motive that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has not denied.
While Mexico’s major airlines have scheduled a handful of flights from the new airport, it is currently vastly underused. The main problem is that there is only road transport connecting the airport with the center of Mexico City; a rail link is not expected to open until next year.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Mexico’s leading operators have questioned the timing of the measure, which the government wants to implement within two months, citing the possibility of scheduling disruption since many tickets for flights for the winter have already been sold.