US Travelers May Gain Easy Access to Tijuana Airport Billy Witz - The New York Times
go to original January 21, 2014

The binational airport bridge is under construction. It will allow people to park on the US side, pay a fee, and cross the bridge directly into the airport. Passage is available only to people holding plan tickets. (city-data.com)

SAN DIEGO — In the barren Southwest, a good portion of the 1,900-mile United States-Mexico border is being fortified with walls, electronic surveillance, and trenches.

But private investors on both sides of the border are taking a different tack, building a bridge to Tijuana International Airport with the expectation of turning it into a low-cost alternative to San Diego’s boxed-in, one-runway airport.

Next year, if all goes according to plan, air travelers will be able to park their cars in the United States and walk across an enclosed 325-foot passageway to Tijuana International.

The project would make Tijuana International a rare airport that lets passengers land in one country and leave in another. Two airports along the Swiss-French border allow that, and a shuttle runs passengers with connecting flights between airports in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, across the border in China.

The effort, led by Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell, promises to help fulfill one of the early dreams of the 20-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement: problem-free travel between Mexico and the United States. Every year, 2.4 million travelers from the States use the Tijuana airport, even if it means waiting for hours at the border. They provide the airport with nearly 60 percent of its traffic.

Read the rest at The New York Times

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