AIRPORT REPORT : TOLUCA
Mexican wave
Toluca International Airport has experienced its share of highs and lows in recent years , but resurgent passenger traffic and expansion plans point to a new sense of optimism , reports Oliver Clark .
When low-cost carriers first burst onto Mexico ’ s commercial aviation scene in the middle of the last decade , one of the big beneficiaries was Toluca ’ s Adolfo López Mateos International Airport ( TLC ).
Located just 40km from Mexico City and boasting good surface links to the capital , Toluca proved an attractive alternative to Mexico City ’ s congested Benito Juárez International Airport ( MEX ) for low-cost carriers ( LCCs ), and in December 2005 Interjet made Toluca its launch base , followed by Volaris in 2006 .
Being the home base for two of Mexico ’ s biggest LCCs catapulted TLC into the big league with traffic jumping from two million in 2006 to 3.3 million in 2007 and four million in 2008 , and it seemed that Toluca would quickly become Mexico City ’ s second airport .
Then disaster struck . The collapse of Mexicana in 2010 opened a gap in the market at MEX ; Interjet and Volaris took the opportunity to move the bulk of their operations to the capital gateway , and Aeroméxico , which had launched operations from Toluca in 2009 , withdrew less than a year later .
Consequently , TLC ’ s traffic slid from a peak in 2008 to 1.5 million in 2011 and fell to less then a million in 2012 , opening up the possibility that Toluca would go back to being just another one of Mexico ’ s regional airports .
Toluca ’ s fortunes appear to have improved dramatically in recent months , however , with carriers including Aeroméxico , VivaAerobus and US carrier Spirit breathing new life into its terminals .
Aeromexico launched services to Guadalajara and Monterrey in February , followed by Acapulco , Spirit Airlines operates international flights to Dallas / Fort Worth and Fort Lauderdale .
Such is the spirit of optimism about the future that Toluca ’ s management are preparing a new masterplan that could see the building of a new runway and terminal over the next two years to deal with increased passenger demand , which is forecast to hit 5.5 million by 2015 . Speaking to Javier García Bejos , CEO of TLC , it is clear why he is so confident about the gateway ’ s future .
“ Toluca Airport is a very uncommon airport in Mexico because it ’ s the only one that shares the market with Mexico City International Airport and we have a huge challenge handling that demand because , as you know , Mexico City is completely saturated .
“ Over the next 10 years Toluca International will grow faster than any other airport in Mexico ,” he predicts .
According to Bejos , Toluca ’ s role as an alternative to Mexico City has never been more relevant . MEX handle nearly 30 million passengers in the 12 months to February 2013 and is at saturation point , and Bejos believes that a key enticement of Toluca is that the small airport facility offers a much less stressful and friendly passenger experience compared to its bigger neighbour .
“ We have a culture of service . What we are doing and saying in the market is ‘ Fly easy , fly Toluca ’ which is not just aimed at passengers but also airlines .
16 AIRPORT WORLD / APRIL-MAY 2013