On Thursday, Mexican authorities and the airline industry agreed to reduce the number of hourly operations at Mexico City International Airport (MEX), going from 61 flights per hour to 52 during the saturated peak hours. This new rule will begin on October 31 and will last throughout the winter season and perhaps even longer.

Reducing the number of flights

Mexico City airport authorities said that the reason behind the reduction of hourly operations is to improve customer service. MEX has been plagued with delays, long queues, infrastructure issues, and overcrowding over the last few months. The local authorities released a statement saying the airport terminals were saturated for around 18 hours every day.

While we can expect a few operations to be canceled or rearranged to a different schedule, Mexican authorities did not shed light on this subject. They only said that the temporary allocation of the slots would be made in a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory way, coordinating between the airport’s administration, the civil aviation authorities, and the airlines.

The cut represents an almost 15% reduction and is still pending final approval. This is not the first time the Mexican authorities have attempted to reduce the number of hourly operations at MEX; earlier this year, the authorities announced MEX hourly operations could be reduced by as much as 21% to 48 flights per hour. It was also announced a measure in which some flights would be moved to the newly constructed Felipe Ángeles International Airport (NLU) outside of Mexico City.

The cut represents an almost 15% reduction and is still pending final approval. Photo: Guillermo Quiroz Martínez via @gquimar.

What are the airlines saying?

Reducing the number of hourly operations will definitely have an impact on airlines operating in Mexico City, particularly the domestic ones. Volaris, Aeromexico, and Viva Aerobus could feel the most impact.

Volaris, the ultra-low-cost carrier, has already taken some measures to cope with this possibility. In the last few months, it has reduced the number of operations at MEX and has sent some of its capacity to the Felipe Ángeles and Toluca airports. Volaris said to Simple Flying that the airline's focus is not to operate from one or another airport; instead, it is focused on serving wholly from Mexico City’s metropolitan system of airports.

Viva Aerobus said to Reuters that all airlines agreed to reduce flights and that MEX infrastructural conditions require a temporary relief to carry out repairs.

Aeromexico has been against the capping of Mexico City’s airport. In June, the airline submitted to judicial review aspects related to saturation and studies on the airport's operational capacity. Simple Flying reached Aeromexico for comment; the airline was not immediately available.

Some airlines have been adding new flights to the newly inaugurated Felipe Ángeles International Airport. Photo: Daniel Martínez Garbuno | Simple Flying. 

Moving to NLU?

In May, the Mexican authorities announced that MEX would not accept new flights; instead, those new services would have to go to the Felipe Ángeles Airport. As part of an “ordained development” of the Mexican airline industry, the government would try to increase the commercial services of the new hub, which had its first flight in March 2022.

So far, the airport has had little success, with 50 weekly flights as of August 2022, according to Cirium. The idea, though, is for the airport to increase the number of commercial services. By December, the airport will have 213 weekly flights and six operators, including three international, Conviasa, Copa Airlines, and newcomer Arajet. Maybe the number of weekly flights will be higher if some of the flights that won’t have a slot at MEX are redirected to NLU.

What do you think about this decision to cap the number of hourly operations at MEX? Let us know in the comments below.