PULSE NEWS MEXICO

In a totally unveiled effort to force airlines to use his dysfunction and nearly-impossible-to-get-to Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), which most international and even major national airlines have so far avoided for safety concerns, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) announced Thursday, Aug. 11, that he would limit the number of flights allowed to land and take off from the Mexico City International Airport (AICM).

“The number of flights at the AICM will be limited because that airport is saturated,” AMLO said, after announcing that the government will pay to “reinforce” the damaged AICM Terminal 2, which in late July had to close down temporarily due to potholes in the runway and other serious structural problems.

“We are going to reinforce Terminal 2 and the government of Mexico City will be in charge of the work, to reinforce the entire foundation,” López Obrador said.

“The decision has already been made to limit the number of flights going in and out of the AICM.”

The president did not say how many flights the airport will be allowed to handle each day or when his new ruling will go into effect.

AMLO said that the federal government will transfer 600 million pesos to the government of Mexico City so that the repair work can begin before the end of the year.

In its first two months of operations, the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) transported just 73,584 passengers, 34,416 passengers less than the 108,000 that, on average, the Mexico City International Airport transports in a single day.

The number of AIFA travelers in its first two months is also 99.6 percent lower than the number of commercial passengers carried by the AICM in the same period.