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Mexico turns to its armed forces to run its major airports
来源：shippingazette 编辑：编辑部 发布：2023/09/28 16:47:27
MEXICAN President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has reshaped aviation by having the military run Mexico's major airports much to the chagrin of airlines the US Government and anyone who depends of aviation, reports London's Financial Times.
Old-school leftist Lopez Obrador in 2019 tasked the defence ministry with building the new Felipe Angeles Airport for US$5 billion after cancelling a partially built one that was plagued by corruption.
The new airport - which is run by the army - is slick and airy but is also 44 kilometres from downtown Mexico City with limited ground connections.
Airlines say they have to set ticket prices so low to fill planes that they struggle to make money. About 7,700 passengers flew to or from the airport each day in July, compared with 90,500 at Benito Juarez, the capital's saturated main airport.
Benito Juarez pure cargo operations were stopped by presidential decree this year, raising ire among US officials. Passenger flights were cut sharply in a second government decision in August, this time prompting a fierce backlash from international and local airlines.
The army now controls 12 airports including a new one it is building in the beach resort of Tulum in the Yucatan peninsula. The navy controls seven airports, including Benito Juarez, and customs at every terminal in the country. Before President Lopez Obrador came to power, state-owned commercial airports and customs services were run by civilian ministries.
A handful of nations including Colombia and Argentina have small military-run passenger airlines, but they were mostly set up decades ago to fly to underserved remote areas.
A major stakeholder in the future of Mexican aviation is the US. With hundreds of daily flights between the two countries, it is one of the world's busiest cross-border routes.
This week Mexico regained its Category 1 rating from the US Federal Aviation Administration after more than two years with a lower rating because of safety concerns. The upgrade allows the country to once again add new flights and routes to the US, and for US airlines to sell tickets on Mexican-operated flights.
But the Mexican leader's decision to limit cargo flights has raised concerns in Washington. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited President Lopez Obrador in June to discuss the move, which meant companies faced delays and higher costs as they awaited the new transport infrastructure.
The US Department of Transport said Mexico was not fully implementing a liberalised transport deal between the two nations, citing "recent actions the government of Mexico has taken affecting US carrier operations at Benito Juarez international airport".
As a result it suspended an application from Mexican airline VivaAerobus and US counterpart Allegiant for antitrust immunity, showing how integration between the two nations is already being affected.
Old-school leftist Lopez Obrador in 2019 tasked the defence ministry with building the new Felipe Angeles Airport for US$5 billion after cancelling a partially built one that was plagued by corruption.
The new airport - which is run by the army - is slick and airy but is also 44 kilometres from downtown Mexico City with limited ground connections.
Airlines say they have to set ticket prices so low to fill planes that they struggle to make money. About 7,700 passengers flew to or from the airport each day in July, compared with 90,500 at Benito Juarez, the capital's saturated main airport.
Benito Juarez pure cargo operations were stopped by presidential decree this year, raising ire among US officials. Passenger flights were cut sharply in a second government decision in August, this time prompting a fierce backlash from international and local airlines.
The army now controls 12 airports including a new one it is building in the beach resort of Tulum in the Yucatan peninsula. The navy controls seven airports, including Benito Juarez, and customs at every terminal in the country. Before President Lopez Obrador came to power, state-owned commercial airports and customs services were run by civilian ministries.
A handful of nations including Colombia and Argentina have small military-run passenger airlines, but they were mostly set up decades ago to fly to underserved remote areas.
A major stakeholder in the future of Mexican aviation is the US. With hundreds of daily flights between the two countries, it is one of the world's busiest cross-border routes.
This week Mexico regained its Category 1 rating from the US Federal Aviation Administration after more than two years with a lower rating because of safety concerns. The upgrade allows the country to once again add new flights and routes to the US, and for US airlines to sell tickets on Mexican-operated flights.
But the Mexican leader's decision to limit cargo flights has raised concerns in Washington. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited President Lopez Obrador in June to discuss the move, which meant companies faced delays and higher costs as they awaited the new transport infrastructure.
The US Department of Transport said Mexico was not fully implementing a liberalised transport deal between the two nations, citing "recent actions the government of Mexico has taken affecting US carrier operations at Benito Juarez international airport".
As a result it suspended an application from Mexican airline VivaAerobus and US counterpart Allegiant for antitrust immunity, showing how integration between the two nations is already being affected.