Welcome everyone to the guide to Mexico City’s International Airport, the busiest airport in Mexico and Latin America, so far… Anyway, this guide has the purpose to guide the pilots who are interested in flying into this particiular airport, with the objective of giving a realistic experience when flying in/out from MEX, which includes the airlines and terminals, runways, or even the taxi routes one should take. It has also special taxi procedures for the Boeing 747-8i and the Airbus 380.
Table of contents:
- Introduction to Mexico City
- Operating Airlines; Airport Terminals.
- Runway usage in MMMX
- Taxi procedures; Special taxi procedures for B748 / A388.
- SID’s & STAR’s; Point Merge.
- Operational restrictions / procedures in MMMX.
First at all, I want to briefly introduce you to Mexico City. Founded on March, 1325, CDMX is the capital city of México. The city itself is well know for some remarkable (and historical) landmarks, including “El Ángel de la Independencia” (picture above), “El Palacio de Bellas Artes”, Chapultepec, or even the archaeological sites in the surroundings of the city (such as Teotihuacán, Tenochtitlán, etc). It’s also known for the gastronomy (basically the whole country is known for it). Another thing Mexico City is well known of is the absolute traffic nightmare in peak hours (In fact, is one of the cities with most traffic jam in the world), and it’s particular earthquake season.
Mexico City has an airport system, which consist of three airfields: Benito Juarez (MEX - MMMX), Felipe Angeles (NLU - MMSM), and one on Toluca (TLC - MMTO) that also serves Mexico’s capital. NLU and TLC are often seen as alternatives to a congested MEX (mostly thanks to the governments actions to reduce operations at MEX, on an attempt to put flights to NLU), but, in contrast, MEX is the busiest airport in the country, and the focus of this topic.
MEX is also one of the busiest airports in Latin America, with more than 48 million passengers transiting at the airport; most of the travellers do connect to their destinations via this airport. MEX faces overcapacity problems due to it’s limited growth, since it’s surrounded by the city. However, even with slot restrictions, they have seen new passenger records last year.
So here we are… onto the airlines and terminals we go.
Areas of focus: Terminal 1, Terminal 2, Cargo Stands
Terminal 1
Terminal 1 is the oldest one in the airport, and of course, is the OG of the airfield. This old terminal is the home of the majority of the airlines and operations from Mexico City; most of the international airlines operate from there. Mexican carriers operating from there include Volaris, Viva Aerobus, and Magnicharters.
The following airlines shown below operate from Terminal 1:
| Airline | Destinations | Aircraft | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Nippon Airways | Tokyo - Narita | B788 | |
| Air Canada | Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver | B38M | |
| Air France | Paris - CDG | A359 | |
| American Airlines | Charlotte, Dallas Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York - JFK, Phoenix - Sky Harbor | A319 (LAX); A320 (PHX); B738, B38M (MIA, JFK, DFW) | |
| Avianca | Bogotá, Medellín | A320 (Neo sometimes) | |
| British Airways | London - LHR | B789 | |
| China Southern Airlines | Shenzhen | A359 | Inbound flight from SXZ is non-stop. Outbound flights must stop at Tijuana (MMTJ) for refuel. |
| Emirates | Barcelona, Dubai | B77L | Fifth freedom rights on MEX-BCN. After stopping at BCN, flight continues to DXB. |
| Hainan Airlines | Beijing-Capital | B789 | Stopover required at Tijuana for inbound and outbound flights. |
| Iberia | Madrid - Barajas | A359 | |
| KLM | Amsterdam | B789 | |
| Lufthansa | Frankfurt, München | FRA: B748 MUC: A359 | FRA: Use gate 26; Special taxi procedures for the B748 (see section 4) |
| Magnicharters | Cancún, Huatulco, Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mérida, Puerto Vallarta, San José del Cabo, Cozumel, Manzanillo | B737 classic family | Idk, use generic B737-700 lol. |
| Turkish Airlines | Istanbul | B789 | Inbound from IST is non-stop. Outbound flights must stop at Cancun to refuel. |
| United Airlines | Chicago-O’Hare, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark, San Francisco, Washington-Dulles | A320 / A319 on all routes except Newark. EWR flight uses B737 | |
| Viva Aerobus | Chetumal, Chicago-O’Hare, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Culiacán, Dallas/Fort Worth, Hermosillo, Houston-Intercontinental, Huatulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, La Paz, Las Vegas, Los Ángeles, Mazatlán, Mérida, New York-JFK, Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, Puerto Vallarta, Reynosa, San Antonio, San José del Cabo, Tampico, Torreón/Gómez Palacio, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Veracruz, Villahermosa | A320 family | |
| Volaris | Acapulco, Bogotá, Cancún, Chetumal, Chicago-O’Hare, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Cozumel, Culiacán, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Houston-Intercontinental, Huatulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, La Paz, Las Vegas, Lima, Los Ángeles, Los Mochis, Mazatlán, Mérida, Mexicali, Miami, Monterrey, Oakland, Oaxaca, Orlando, Puerto Escondido, Puerto Vallarta, Sacramento, San Antonio, San José del Cabo, Tapachula, Tijuana, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Villahermosa | A320 family | |
| Volaris Costa Rica | Guatemala City, San José (CR) | A320 family | |
| Volaris El Salvador | San Salvador | A320 family |
Terminal 2
Terminal 2 was opened up in 2007 as demand surged. The airport was exceeding it’s capacity already before T2 went up, so the construction was definetly needed. However, the overcrowd problem came back quickly. In 2020, a mini terminal connected with T2, called “Dedo L” (in IF it would be the remote stands on the west side of T2), was constructed and opened up, on an attempt to ease things up. It has 7 more gates with jetbridges, but only accepts narrowbodies. Right now, a third terminal is being considered to icrease capacity.
Terminal 2 is home of Mexico’s flag carrier: Aeromexico, and it’s regional subsidiary Aeromexico Connect. They operate all their flights from there. Aside from Aeromexico, a bunch of AMX’s partners also operate from there.
| Airline | Destinations | Aircraft | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeromexico | Acapulco, Austin, Aguascalientes, Amsterdam, Bogotá, Boston, Buenos Aires–Ezeiza, Cancún, Chetumal, Chicago–O’Hare, Chihuahua, Ciudad del Carmen, Ciudad Juárez, Cozumel, Culiacán, Denver, Guadalajara, Guatemala City, Havana, Hermosillo, Houston–Intercontinental, Huatulco, La Paz, Las Vegas, León/El Bajío, Lima, London–Heathrow, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mazatlán, Medellín–JMC, Mérida, Mexicali, Miami, Monterrey, Montréal–Trudeau, Newark*, New York–JFK, Oaxaca, Orlando, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Puerto Vallarta, Querétaro, Rome–Fiumicino, San Antonio, San Francisco, San José (CR), San José del Cabo, San Luis Potosí, Santo Domingo–Las Américas, São Paulo–Guarulhos, Seattle/Tacoma, Seoul–Incheon*, Tapachula, Tijuana, Tokyo–Narita, Toronto–Pearson, Torreón/Gómez Palacio, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Vancouver, Veracruz, Villahermosa, Washington–Dulles | B738, B38M, B39M, B788, B789 | Nerark flights starts Oct 27th // Flights to ICN are required to stop at MTY. ICN-MEX is non-stop. // NRT B789 outbound flights require a stop in MTY. NRT-MEX is non-stop (5x weekly until December). MEX-NRT B788 flight is non-stop. |
| Aeromexico Connect | Acapulco, Aguascalientes, Campeche, Cancún, Chetumal, Chihuahua, Ciudad del Carmen, Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Obregón, Cozumel, Culiacán, Dallas/Fort Worth*, Durango, Guatemala City, Hermosillo, Houston–Intercontinental, Huatulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, La Paz, León/El Bajío, Los Mochis, Managua, Manzanillo, Matamoros, Mazatlán, Mérida, Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos, Morelia, Nuevo Laredo, Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, Puerto Vallarta, Querétaro, Raleigh/Durham, Reynosa, San José (CR), San José del Cabo, San Luis Potosí, San Pedro Sula, San Salvador, Santo Domingo–Las Américas, Tampa*, Tampico, Tapachula, Tepic, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Veracruz, Villahermosa, Zacatecas. | E190 | DFW & TPA flights will upgauge to B38M from Oct 27th. |
| Copa Airlines | Panama-Tocumen | B738 | |
| Delta Airlines | Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York - JFK, Salt Lake City | A319 (DTW, MSP, SLC), B752 (JFK), B738 (ATL) | |
| LATAM Airlines | Sao Paulo - GRU, Lima, Santiago | B788 (SCL); B789 (GRU); A320 Neo (LIM). |
Cargo Stands
As for the cargo operations, MEX (well, the government) has banned those and moved them to NLU, so… if you want to do cargo operations in Infinite Flight, just do whatever you want lol. Just make sure your plane is not heavy when departing out of MEX, otherwise, you may wanna do a stop somewhere near.
Sources: Airline information
Runway 05L/23R is used as the main takeoff runway for almost all the flights, including a couple of widebodies on a short flight. Runway 05R/23L is used as the main landing runway since it is equipped with a CAT I ILS approach system for both sides of the runway.
Now, 05R/23L is also used for departures, mostly by widebodies going for long flights. That’s because it’s the longest runway of the airport, and due to the high elevation, then it makes it very important. A good bunch of Aeromexico medium haul flights with the B737 family also depart from there, as well as some other narrowbodies going to the northen side of the United States. Since 05R/23L can be used for departures, then some arrivals may go to 05L/23R on a Visual Approach.
Simultaneous departure / arrival can be made (i.e: one takes off from 05R while another lands on 05L at the same time). However, parallel takeoffs / landings are banned IRL. Runway separation is simply too tight for an airport like MMMX.
Here’s an image explaining the taxi routes. Basically, do not do intersection departures :)
Boeing 747-8i taxi procedures.
That if you’re flying LH499. Use gate 26 for the 748. As a fun fact, this taxi procedure is also valid (and required) if flying an A388.
5. SID’s and STAR’s
SID’s
NOTICE: Recently, the departure procedures in MMMX have changed in order to avoid NLU’s airspace. However, currently those are not shown in IF, and the old procedures are shown instead. Once the navigation database updates the procedures, I will update this thread accordingly.
Point merge
For ATC: Use of point merge is recommended for these specific procedures shown above, as the arrivals can be considered as single runway operations. However, if shortcutting, I’d recommend returning them to their FPL before clearing them to approach.
MMMX’s airport elevation is around 7320ft or so, making this a “hot & high” airport, with temperatures up to 32° C, which is a lot for an elevated region like Mexico City. Due to the extreme conditions with the high elevation, there’s less air density, and therebefore, aircraft will require long takeoff rolls to get airborne. Ground speeds will be higher than usual, and when on the air or on approach, turns will be wider than usual as well.
The insane conditions is the main reason of why long haul flights cannot exceed ceirtain distance. As a reference, the longest flight from Mexico City - non stop - is to Tokyo NRT, with flight time up to 14h and 30mins. Flights with longer range departing from MEX will have to do a stop on the way to refuel (for example, Emirates cannot fly non stop to DXB because the plane would be too heavy to takeoff from MEX). The longest runway of the airport, which exceeds 13400ft, can be the same as an 8000ft runway due to the elevation.
With that being said, I’ve got some tips for you, that for a safe use of your plane in MEX.
When landing into MMMX…
(Considering RWY 05’s are in use)
- Do not exceed 250kts below 18000ft MSL. (If landing on RWY 23’s, still reduce the speed, but then do land as normal)
- Do not exceed 200kts before entering the I05RZ procedure.
- Before turning final, reduce your speed to 170kts or 160kts. Final will be 8-7nm due to the terrain, so reducing the speed before turning final will help you to avoid overshooting the LOC. If on a widebody, a good use of flaps (20° or 3 maybe) will help you out.
- Use of spoilers will be needed to reduce speeds.
- You can expect to land faster (ground speed) due to the elevation. Use Auto Brakes to “Medium”, reversers to normal. Also, you can set to “Low” but with reversers to almost full.
When departing from MMMX…
- Make sure you do not exceed your aircraft’s MTOW.
- No intersection departures. (Use the full lenght of the runway)
- Power thrust used on a normal takeoff run: 88 - 100% N1.
- If heavy, you may use more flaps than needed.
- Consider doing a stop over if going for an ultra long haul flight.
And, that’s it for today. Obviously I’ll update this guide if needed.
Thank you for reading this guide. I hope you find it useful for your next visit! :)
Disclaimer: I’ve copied and pasted some parts from my previous guide since there wasn’t an update on those, so there’s no worth on writing all again. lol