The Mexican army could be interested in launching a new airline, according to recently leaked documents. This carrier would be administrated by the same group currently holding the new Felipe Ángeles International Airport (NLU), north of Mexico City.
A new carrier?
Last week, Guacamaya Leaks leaked thousands of documents from the Mexican army. Among the leaked documents, the local newspaper El Universal found out about the army's plans of launching a State carrier which would include a fleet of ten leased aircraft and the presidential Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a famous plane that the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has been trying to sell since getting to the office in 2018.
This airline would fall under the administration of a company–owned by the army–called Grupo Aeroportaurio Ferroviario y de Servicios Auxiliares Olmeca Maya Mexica. This company currently administrates three airports, Palenque, Chetumal, and the Felipe Angeles, a future airport (Tulum International), and the famous Maya Train railway, an ambitious project aimed to reinvigorate the economy in the south of Mexico, the country’s poorest region.
A new Mexicana?
This proposed airline would definitely have a base at the Felipe Ángeles airport. On Tuesday, Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, confirmed the Army’s plans to launch an airline. He added that this carrier would help bring air connectivity to regions historically lacking this service type. He said,
“There are many places which cannot be reached by plane because they are not served by the current airlines. There has also been a reduction in flights because of the disappearance of Mexicana and Interjet and the (capacity) cuts by Aeromar. We have cities that used to have flights but have lost this connectivity. The country is growing and will grow more, but we need more airlines.”
López Obrador said this airline could be ready to operate in 2023. He added that the new carrier should acquire the Mexicana de Aviación brand because it is a symbol widely known throughout the country. Mexicana de Aviación was Mexico’s first airline, launched in the 1920s. It ceased operations in 2010.
The challenges
Nonetheless, the project faces several challenges. The main challenge is that the law strictly prohibits an airport operator from owning an airline (or vice versa). Therefore, the Army would not be able to own and operate this airline while holding onto the Felipe Ángeles, Palenque, Chetumal, and Tulum airports.
To address this issue, the Army is currently working on a modification of the law to be able to hold the airline and the airports at the same time.
The army airline would also face challenges in terms of which routes it would operate, which aircraft it would lease, and how to make the company profitable in the mid-term. In the Americas, there’s a long-standing tradition of State carriers being unable to record net profits, including examples such as Aerolíneas Argentinas (Argentina) and TAME (Ecuador) in the recent past.
Reviewing data by Cirium, 45 city pairs have lost direct connectivity between October 2019 and October 2022. Only six routes were lost in the Mexico City area: Toluca-Acapulco, Mexico City-Tamuin, Mexico-Saltillo, Mexico-Palenque, Mexico-Poza Rica, and Mexico City-Lazaro Cárdenas (which had the most capacity, with 17 weekly flights and 960 seats available in 2019).
Do you think a State carrier would be a good idea to promote the use of the Felipe Ángeles Airport? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: El Universal, Cirium.