Mexico City.- Isidoro Pastor Román, general director of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), assured that the capacity of the facilities is exceeded by 40% to receive international cargo.
The General affirmed that the AIFA is ready for the airlines to move their cargo operations from the International Airport of Mexico City (AICM), as was decreed yesterday.
Pastor Román specified the capacity of the Airport in the State of Mexico, after receiving a phone call from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, during the morning conference of the President at the National Palace.
“We are overstocked because most of the cargo that arrives at the AICM arrives in the belly of the planes. We are overstocked at 40 percent capacity,” he replied to the President.
He added that AIFA can receive 490,000 tons of international cargo, since it will have 15 controlled areas in total, of which 12 are authorized for foreign cargo. But the military said that currently, only four facilities are ready and the rest will be up and running in one or two months.
He boasted that the leading airport can receive 10 planes at the same time and five large aircraft can land without space problems at AIFA.
The President was questioned for opinions contrary to his decree that ensure lack of capacity in AIFA and then decided to call the General. According to the Manadatrio, those who criticize it is because they have not visited the facilities in the Municipality of Zumpango.
“I’m sure he hasn’t gone, because there are all the facilities, many more warehouses than the ones at the airport (in Mexico City), new, first-rate,” he said when questioned by Peter Cerdá, vice president for Latin America at the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
He attributed that opponents of his government seek to discredit AIFA operations, including organizations such as IATA.
“I don’t have any confidence in them, besides, what are we looking for? Well, that there be more space in the Airport, which is saturated and we have that good, modern facility, but our adversaries continue to oppose everything that what are we doing”.
Pastor Román explained that David Hernández Rivera, interim president of IATA, has gone to AIFA three times and on no occasion has he expressed concerns, nor have other cargo businessmen, to whom they have already explained the airport’s capacities.
Advance cargo decree to give time to move
President López Obrador said that he advanced the decree to move international cargo to AIFA at the suggestion of Jorge Nuño Lara, Secretary of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation. With this, a longer term will be given to complete the operations.
“Give them more time, because it was three months and then, if the decree is published from now on, instead of three months it’s four, because business days are counted, the term will end in July, they will have time,” he replied.
He explained that he planned to sign the order at the end of February, when DHL arrived with its first load, but followed Nuño Lara’s recommendations, since agreements had already been reached with the companies.
