Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares (ASA) seeks to become a land transport operator with the purpose of detonating passenger traffic to its terminals, for this reason it requested 562.5 million pesos from the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) to buy 48 buses and seven vans with a capacity of 35 and 14 seats.
“The project consists of providing passenger transportation between the 19 airports that comprise the network and the nearby urban areas, through the acquisition of units and the installation of bus stops,” the agency explained.
During 2022, the terminals operated by the federal government, through ASA, transported 3.6 million passengers (domestic and international), while the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) added 46 million passengers.
Among the airports that would benefit are: Puebla (where Volaris, VivaAerobus and United Airlines operate), Puerto Escondido (with Volaris, VivaAerobus and Aeroméxico routes), Ciudad Victoria, Tepic, Uruapan, Poza Rica, Ixtepec, Nuevo Laredo or Tehuacan.
Despite the fact that the request for resources indicates that 18 airports will be helped, there is no mention that six are in the process of disincorporation (Obregón, Ciudad del Carmen, Colima, Loreto, Matamoros and Guaymas) to be incorporated into a new group airport in charge of the Secretary of the Navy, which will also include the AICM.
Among the benefits cited for purchasing the units this year are “savings from reduced transfer times for passengers traveling between any of the airports in the ASA network and the nearest and most important urban area through the use of modern, safe and efficient transport equipment”.
According to information from ASA, the current supply of ground transportation is offered by taxis, in some cases applications such as Uber or Didi, and public transportation, which is inefficient and the demand is unsatisfied because it uses expensive and slow services.
In addition, in its supply analysis it is specified that the “program does not consider modifying the supply of airports and their air transport services, so their characteristics would remain the same.”
However, it is certain that as access to airports is facilitated there will be an increase in air services and new routes.
To date, companies such as Caminante and ADO offer transportation services between airports and urban centers.
