Expected to Handle 32M Passengers in 2014, Mexico City Airport Near Saturation Point EFE
go to original May 10, 2013

Travelers wait in line at Mexico City's Benito Juarez International Airport. (EFE)

MEXICO CITY - Mexico City's Benito Juarez International Airport is about to hit the saturation point and a new facility will have to be constructed "sooner or later," the airport's director, Alfonso Sarabia, said.

The airport, which celebrated its 60th anniversary last November and is Mexico's largest aviation facility, is a year away from reaching maximum operating capacity, Sarabia said.

The airport is expected to handle 32 million passengers in 2014, a level that "is the maximum optimum" that it "can operate at," the director said.

"We cannot stretch the rubber band any further at this airport, we cannot build a second runway or an elevated runway like we have here in the city, but we are going to have to see (how far) it goes," Sarabia said.

Last month, officials said flight schedules were adjusted effective April 18 to deal with the extremely high volume at the facility.

Air operations exceeded maximum hourly capacity on 52 occasions at the airport in 2012, the Mexican Airspace Navigation Service said.

The airport currently has a capacity of 61 operations per hour, with a maximum of 40 arrivals and 21 departures, the service said.

Benito Juarez International Airport handled 32 million passengers in 2012.

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