The ongoing renovation work at Mexico City International Airport (AICM) may be extended to include a third terminal and a redesign of the streets connecting to the airport.
Head of AICM Admiral Juan José Padilla Olmos said that while the idea is still in the planning stages, such improvements would be part of any third renovation phase.
(Camila Ayala Benabib / Cuartoscuro.com)
“The third stage is a project that has not yet been finalized, but it is a project for a potential addition of one more terminal,” Padilla said in an interview with journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva.
The project is part of a wider modernization plan with a total investment of 10 billion pesos (US $576 million) that began last year in preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The first modernization phase, which required an investment of 6.5 billion pesos (US $375 million), has recently been completed, while the second phase is expected to be carried out between August and December.
The remaining work includes operational and mobility adjustments to improve passenger flow and internal connectivity between different areas of the airport.
A third phase would include the reorganization of roads that converge at the airport, including the arrivals and departures areas, the North Axis 1 and the Inner Ring Road and the accesses in front of Terminal 1.
According to Padilla, these improvements would optimize flows and reduce the airport’s long-standing saturation problems.
“It is a very ambitious and necessary project, but it requires a thorough study and the integration of an interdisciplinary committee to ensure a successful outcome,” Padilla said.
Earlier this year, Mexico’s legacy airline Aeroméxico proposed building a third terminal at AICM to solve the frequent congestion issues of Terminals 1 and 2. Back then, Aeroméxico CEO Andrés Conesa Labastida said that a third terminal would increase capacity from 50 million passengers per year, to some 70 or 75 million.
Conesa noted that this proposal must be supplemented in operation by the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) near Mexico City, and the Toluca International Airport in Mexico state, creating a combined capacity of more than 100 million passengers per year in the Valley of Mexico.
However, Luis Felipe de Oliveira, head of the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association, said at the time that a third terminal wouldn’t be enough to solve the AICM’s structural issues.
With reports from Reporte Índigo, MGM Noticias and El Financiero
