Mexico’s government denies risks at capital city airports despite alerts
The Mexican government denied on Saturday that there are documented risks in the capital’s airspace due to the simultaneous operation of the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) and the new Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA), despite warnings from international airline associations.
The Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SCIT) issued a statement following warnings from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Federation of Air Line Pilots (IFALPA), which have warned of increasing “impact” risks.
→ Mexico: Government prepares decree to move flights from AICM to AIFA.
The Secretariat affirmed that the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) and the Mexican Airspace Navigation Services (Seneam) “have attended in a timely manner the events that have been formally reported,” of which only one has been recognized, EFE reported.
“At the moment AFAC and Seneam do not have any official report of ground proximity warning activation events (GPWS); the last recorded case occurred on June 15, 2021,” the SCIT stated in the text.
The statement responds directly to an IFALPA bulletin, which last Wednesday warned of “several incidents involving aircraft arriving at the AICM” due to fuel depletion caused by the extra time they have to stay in the air due to delays and airport saturation.
The international association considered that air traffic controllers have received “little training and support” for the simultaneous operation of AICM and AIFA, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s flagship airport inaugurated on March 21.
→ Aeromexico to increase flights to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In addition, a letter IATA sent to Seneam was revealed to warn of at least 17 “alarm events” that have occurred from April 2021 to date at the AICM during runway approaches.
IATA, which groups international airlines, exposed that “the situation has become very worrying” in view of the “new configuration of the airspace in the Valley of Mexico”.
The SCIT argued that “it is the obligation of pilots to report when they have the activation of a ground proximity alert”.
“So far this year, the authority has no official reports that allow it to act within the scope of its powers, so it urges air operators to ask their crews to notify the competent authority of any event,” he said.
Even so, he announced “that a working group on air safety will be set up immediately” with the participation of IATA, Seneam, AFAC, the AICM and the Airline Pilots Union Association.
Photo: Vmzp85/Wikimedia
Related Topics
China’s Major Airlines Remain in Red in First Half of 2025
Boeing Negotiates Sale of Up to 500 Aircraft to China
India: Staff Shortages at Regulator and Air Traffic Control Endanger Safety, Lawmakers Warn
India and China Prepare to Resume Direct Flights After Years of Suspension
Plataforma Informativa de Aviación Comercial con 13 años de trayectoria.