The International Air Transport Association says it is vital that Mexico City replace its severely overburdened Benito Juarez International Airport with a new facility.
The organization, which represents 280 airlines, said in a statement that the existing airport is bursting at the seams and is hampering Mexico City’s potential to take a major role on the global stage.
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“It serves 47 million passengers, almost 50 percent over its design capacity of 32 million,” Peter Cerda, IATA’s regional vice president for the Americas, said in a statement. “A new airport is vital to enable Mexico City to benefit more fully from its ideal geographic position linking North America and Latin America.”
Aviation already makes an enormous contribution to Mexico’s economy, supporting one million jobs and 2.9 percent of GDP, including the economic contribution of foreign tourists arriving by air, IATA noted.
But lack of infrastructure capacity in the country’s capital city is degrading Mexico’s ability to capture an even larger share of the benefits of aviation connectivity, regionally and globally, according to a new IATA study.
The study showed that for a country of its size, Mexico underperforms in terms of its integration with the global air transport network.
In other words, aviation is not fully delivering the benefits that it could with sufficient infrastructure.
“In this regard, Mexico trails countries with much smaller home markets, including Panama, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru, and Chile,” said the IATA statement.
The new IATA study also identifies the cost of missed opportunities if infrastructure development does not keep pace with demand for aviation connectivity.
If the new airport is not built, it could mean 20 million fewer passengers per year by 2035. This translates into a negative impact of up to $20 billion in future GDP contribution and up to 200,000 fewer jobs in Mexico supported by aviation in 2035.
“With its enormous local population, strong attractions for business and tourism, and geographic advantages, Mexico City has the ability to play a much bigger role on the world stage. But for that to happen, aviation infrastructure needs to be adequate and affordable, which is why it is absolutely vital that the new Mexico City Airport is built as planned,” said Cerda.
IATA supports a plan that was launched in 2014 to replace Benito Juárez International Airport.
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