Mexicana de Aviación has had to drop its plans to run charters to US cities hosting games for the football World Cup.
The Mexican airline applied for traffic rights to operate charters to carry passengers, freight and mail between Mexico and the US for the duration of the event this month to meet the demand from fans, sponsors, media groups, logistics operators and team delegations.
For the airline, reborn in 2023 under the auspices of Mexico’s defence ministry after its 2010 bankruptcy, the planned flights would have marked its entry into the US market at scale.
It applied to operate a mix of 737-800 and Embraer E195 aircraft on routes connecting Mexico City, Guadalajara. and Monterrey with US cities hosting the football event, including Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Dallas, and Houston.
The US Department of Transportation (DoT) confirmed in March it had received the application, but last week Mexicana management announced it had been informed it would not be able to complete the application process before the DoT deadline.
CEO Leobardo Ávila Bojórquez told media the company would continue to work with the US authorities with a view to later cross-border operations, and dismissed suggestions that the delay was linked to measures taken by the US regulator last year against Mexican airlines.
The DoT had accused the Mexican authorities of violating the US-Mexico aviation bilateral when it reduced landing slots at Mexico City’s Benito Juarez Airport (AICM) and banned freighter operations at the chronically congested gateway, claiming that the loss of slots and the move of freighter operations to Felipe Angeles International Airport (AFIA) cost US airlines millions of dollars.
In retaliation, last October the US imposed a ban on new cross-border routes from Mexico City for Mexican airlines, as well as on frequency increases, and revoked 13 route authorisations for them.
It also ordered the dissolution of the joint-venture between Aeromexico and Delta Air Lines.
According to one airline executive, lead times for cross-border charters have been longer since then.
After talks with Mexican aviation officials early last month, US transportation secretary Duffy announced that the two sides had “made progress” toward resolving the stand-off, and agreed conditions for the use of the Mexican capital’s airports for air cargo.
However, he said, the US restrictions would remain in place until the Mexican authorities had converted their promises into action.
Mexican airlines had given up six take-off and landing slots at AICM as part of the negotiations.
UPS announced on 29 May it would offer time-definite heavy airfreight services to/from Mexico from August as part of the expansion of its ‘North American Air Freight’ Network. Shippers will be able to choose between one- two- and three-day service options to and from Mexico.
The restrictions placed on Mexican carriers were a factor in a decline in throughput at AIFA last year. Over the first 11 months of last year, the nation’s top airfreight gateway suffered a 10.8% drop in volumes, as the overall national tonnage shrank 3.7%.
Business picked up this year, with overall cargo rising 7.3% in the first two months, while AIFA’s tonnage surged 17.4%, cementing its position as one of the top three cargo gateways in Latin America, behind Bogotá’s El Dorado and Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos. According to the government, this improvement was largely due to technology integration, and faster customs processing.
In a recent meeting with government officials, several airlines reportedly expressed ambitions to increase their operations at AIFA, but much will hinge on progress with Washington.
Although recent talks with US officials on the renewal of the USMCA free-trade agreement appeared to be going well, there are signals that the pact will not be renewed by 1 July, which opens the door to continuing uncertainty on this front.
For air cargo with a stake or ambitions in cross-border traffic, at least some clarity on this aspect would be helpful to chart their course going forward. Perhaps Mexicana could have some progress on this front, although it stands to lose out on the World Cup bonanza.
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