President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) announced that Mexico already has the pertinent requirements that the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States (FAA) requests to recover category 1 in aviation safety.
Without delving into further details, the Chief Executive assured that the process of his Government – through the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT) – in this area “it is progressing very well”.
“It is progressing very well. All the requirements have been met.”
In this sense, he announced that the head of the SICT, Jorge Nuno Laraas well as other airport authorities could resort to the morning to provide more details about it.
The president’s announcement occurred after the twenty laws that legislators related to the Fourth Transformation (4T) approved via fast track on the night and early morning of April 29 and 30; one of them being the Civil Aviation Law and the Airport Law.
Said legislation established various measures to recover Category 1, such as granting new powers to the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) to authorize, regulate, monitor, supervise and certify activities related to civil aviation.
Said opinions, based on what was reported by Nuño Lara on April 27, made it possible to give more certainty to the Federation of the neighboring country and thus schedule the first audit for the week of May 15. This in order to forecast the recovery of category 1 for June.
“We are confident that we can recover category 1 next June while all internal procedures are carried out in the United States,” added the official during the inauguration of the fifth edition of the Mexican Aerospace Fair (Famex).
In May 2021, FAA downgraded from Category 1 to Category 2 the aviation safety rating in Mexico due to its redesign of the airspace in the Valley of Mexico after the inauguration of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA).
Due to having lost this level, Mexico cannot open new routes to the United States from May 2021.
And it was not until the end of January 2022 that the Government of Mexico received technical assistance from the FAA so that the country is prepared and can recover category 1 in aviation safety as soon as possible.
The redesign of the airspace was one of the modifications that led to the construction and entry into operation of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), inaugurated on March 21, 2022 after three years under construction, a work that has faced criticism for operating limited flights. .
Since it was proposed, the AIFA has faced questions from security specialists due to risks by sharing airspace with the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) and the Toluca City Airport, some 50 kilometers from the capital.
