Qatar Airways assured that it has no interest in operating at AIFA

Qatar Airways said it has no plans to operate at Felipe Angeles International Airport (AIFA). This contradicted the statements of Marcelo Ebrard, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, who recently assured that negotiations would begin this week for the airline to operate in the new facilities.

According to Reuters, on Wednesday a spokesman for the Qatari company stated: “We can confirm that Qatar Airways has no plans to start operating at Felipe Angeles International Airport, Mexico City.” This is after the company's representatives were silent for days, after being questioned about what Ebrard said and about the start date of the negotiation.

The airline's alleged initiative was announced on April 5 during the morning conference of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, when the official in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) announced that as a result of the Mexican Republic's presence at Expo Dubai, the airline's CEO, Akbar Al Baker, had expressed interest in operating at the airfield opened at the end of March.

SRE confirmed on the afternoon of April 7, in a statement, the interest in creating the Mexico-Qatar air route and outlined the benefits it would generate. “The establishment of a route would allow both passenger and cargo transport on the eve of the football world cup that will be held in Qatar from November 21 to December 18. The Mexican fans represent one of the most numerous expected in Qatar,” the document said.

Contrary to the company's statement, the SRE statement even indicated that Al Baker has appointed Senior Vice President for Aeropolitical and Corporate Affairs, Fathi Atti, as responsible for establishing an air route with Mexico.

It is worth mentioning that the Mexican government had already shown interest in establishing business with Qatar Airways since February last year, when through the Ministry of Communications and Transport (STC) they extended an invitation to expand its presence in Mexico with commercial and cargo flights at the new airport.

However, with the recent comments of its spokesperson, the possibility of the airline joining Aeromexico, Volaris and Viva Aerobus, which already operate at the newly opened airport on six domestic routes: Tijuana, Cancun, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Villahermosa and Mérida, was ruled out.

The addition of the Middle East company would have meant a step forward in government attempts to transfer some of the air traffic from Mexico City International Airport (AICM) to AIFA. Currently, Qatar Airways, which moves more than 30 million tons of cargo annually, has a significant presence in the country with the Mexico-Doha route, which ranks second in the top 10 destinations that move cargo and has a market share of 10.3 percent.

The opening of the Felipe Ángeles airport has generated controversy due to the fact that it is an incomplete work that has had several operational problems and that so far has limited capacity. According to official information, during the first phase, which ends in 2024, the airport will have the capacity to transport 20 million people, but it is estimated that by the end of 2022 it will have carried only 2.4 million passengers.

Other factors that generate doubts among investors are inadequate access roads, lack of installed capacity to increase the number of flights, uncertainty regarding expansion plans, as well as the lack of an airport system connecting it to AICM and Toluca airport.

Despite the lack of certainty, it was announced that flights to the United States will begin in the second half of 2022, with Delta and Copa Airlines airlines. The inclusion of routes to the US is part of the plan that the government has to promote participation in the AIFA with the aim of exploiting its full capacity in the next two years and to vent the AICM taking over at least 20% of the flights.

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