Mexican officials force airlines to use new, distant airport

Transportation officials in Mexico said Wednesday they will effectively force airlines to use a new, more distant airport that was one of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s pet projects. López Obrador inaugurated the new Felipe Angeles airport, 43 km north of Mexico City, in March. But rail and road links to the new terminal have yet to be completed, and airlines have been loath to change flights from the still-operating inner city airport. Currently, only about a half-dozen flights per day use the new terminal. But Transportation and Infrastructure Secretary Rogelio Jimenez Pons told local media the government has decided to reduce the number of flights allowed to land at the old airport by 20%. The reduction is to start in July, and could force about 10 daily flights to the new terminal. The government had already said any new flights scheduled into Mexico City will have to use Felipe Angeles, but the new reduction applies to existing routes. Jimenez Pons said the old airport had to reduce traffic because it is overloaded and needs updates. He said airlines can choose to go the Felipe Angeles terminal or to an even more distant, largely unused airport in the neighboring city of Toulca, to the west.<br/>