To say Mexico’s brand new Felipe Angeles Airport is struggling would be an understatement.
Torn parasols, dead palm trees, overgrown weeds, and most importantly, just a handful of flights are keeping travelers and investors away.
Travelers continue to take to social media to complain about the airport’s limited amenities, including a lack of food, and bathrooms without running water.
To make things worse, the Mexican low-cost airline, Volaris just announced that it has canceled its planned route from Felipe Angeles Airport to Los Angeles, California, indefinitely.
Several pilots and air traffic controllers have also spoken out about the risks posed by the airport’s poor design and the potential danger to air traffic in all of central Mexico.
“There are a great many issues that need to be addressed, from lackluster telemetry to logistical risks involving overlapping airspace. The fact that there have been no accidents so far is really a testament to the professionalism of air traffic controllers,” said aeronautical engineer José Medina Gomez.
Earlier: What you need to know before flying into Mexico City’s new airport
As of this posting, even the airport’s website is non responsive.
Industry analysts argue that another factor the Felipe Angeles Airport has going against it is its distance from Mexico City’s main international airport — nearly 30 miles away.
In reality, the airport is not even in Mexico City, but rather in Mexico State on the site of the Air Force Base of the same name, in the municipality of Zumpango.
The Felipe Ángeles International Airport began construction shortly after the start of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s term.
This after the president stopped construction at yet another airport begun by his predecessor in Texcoco.
