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Airport reviews
| October 3rd, 2014 at 6:54:25 AM permalink | |
| Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
Yes, but between 2005 and 2008 the airport thrived thanks to just 2 airlines. So much so it got expanded, the road to the airport was widened, and an overpass got built to connect it to the highway at Tollocan Blvd. Even then Interjet and Volaris were grabbing slots in Mex City from defunct airlines. But only a few (the defunct being small airlines). Now it's a niche airport with extra capacity. Interjet pretty much uses it for tourism flights aimed at the well-to-do sector in the western part of Mex City. If they didn't fly to Vegas from there, I don't think I'd ever fly from that airport except in very rare occasions. But if Interjet has to move the Super Jet flights off Mex City because they can't expand that way, then they may end up in Toluca. Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
| October 3rd, 2014 at 10:14:12 AM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
I just assumed that the SuperJet was for the smaller airports. This video shows an A320 flying out of Toluca. I haven't seen one of those stairs they drive over to the jet in a major airport in decades. Usually they are only for regional planes. The shuttle fare to Tolucas airport seems very economical. They don't tell you how long it takes (which I assume varies a great deal with time of day) Fiesta Americana Reforma – Aeropuerto de Toluca............................$ 90 Aeropuerto de Toluca - Fiesta Americana Reforma............................$ 90 Antara Polanco - Aeropuerto de Toluca............................$ 90 Aeropuerto de Toluca- Antara Polanco............................$ 90 Holiday Inn Express WTC – Aeropuerto de Toluca............................$ 90 Aeropuerto de Toluca- Holiday Inn Express WTC............................$ 90 Satélite - Aeropuerto de Toluca............................$ 105 Aeropuerto de Toluca - Satélite............................$ 105 Santa Fe HauSuites – Aeropuerto de Toluca............................$ 75 Aeropuerto de Toluca - Santa Fe HauSuites............................$ 75 |
| October 3rd, 2014 at 1:06:59 PM permalink | |
| Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
I last flew from Toluca last Spring to Vegas in an A320. The Super Jet wasn't even active then. Though as I recall, the flights from Toluca go to Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, Los Cabos, Monterrey, Vegas and San Antonio. Perhaps a few others I've missed. But certainly not to the less-traveled routes which would require a smaller jet.
Toluca is all-stairs, not a single jetway. That's true also for Carmen, Terminal C at Monterrey (Viva), and the remote positions in Mex City's airport (that I know). But there are advantages. The A320 can be boarded front and back
It is, for a single business traveler. A family of four would pay 4 times as much. Say $360 pesos one way to Toluca. A cab to Mex City's airport from most of those places is about $250. And the cab picks you up at home. Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
| October 3rd, 2014 at 8:20:09 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
MAP=million air passengers 2013 air passenger 35,448,590 London Gatwick Airport: "world's busiest single runway airport" 31,534,638 Mexico Benito Juárez International Airport "double runway airport| but you can use only one runway at a time" Well, AICM is only 4 MAP short of Gatwick, the busiest single runway airport in the world. AICM is not much better than a single runway airport because of the spacing between the two runways is only 1000 feet. I think for unlimited simultaneous usage, two runways must be 4000' apart. Runways at LAX and Heathrow are about 4500' apart. At the 2012-2013 rate of increase (6.9%) or 2 MAP, AICM will be at 50MAP in 7 years. I know they are talking about completing the new airport in 4 years, but these estimates never get met. IMHO at best estimates Toluca will have to return to 2008 record of 4.3 MAP just as an interim solution. But so far this year they won't even get near 1 MAP. Weekly passengers (outgoing only) from Toluca (Interjet only except as noted) to: 1,780 CANCUN (Volaris) 1,568 MONTERREY 817 ACAPULCO 646 SAN JOSE DEL CABO 616 PUERTO VALLARTA 548 ZIHUATANEJO 356 GUADALAJARA (TAR Aerolineas) ... 288 FT. LAUDERDALE (Spirit Airlines) 231 SAN ANTONIO 185 LAS VEGAS ... 65 other domestic Stats from SCT.GOB.MX
Does it take a long time to get the wheelchair passengers into the plane?  What is the preferred term for "jetway"? 1) tunel de abordaje 2) pasarela telescópica |
| October 4th, 2014 at 3:41:08 AM permalink | |
| Nareed Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 346 Posts: 12545 |
I forget whose law it is: everything takes longer and costs more.
Of course not. It's become a niche airport. What I liked most about flying from there was the return trip home. The traffic was light and there's a route straight to my place.
I've never seen a single passenger get on a plane on a wheelchair. Not ever. I've seen some hobble out on crutches and then get on a wheelchair at the end of the jetway.
No idea. It doesn't get mentioned often. I think the term most often used is "gusano," meaning "worm." Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER |
| October 4th, 2014 at 6:23:20 AM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
You don't have to tell a mezcal fan what "gusano" means.  First 8 months of 2014, change in domestic traffic from 2013 +8.2% Ciudad de México +7.5% Monterrey +6.9% Guadalajara +5.8% Cancún +7.3% Tijuana +3.4% Hermosillo +10.3% Culiacán +11.3% Mérida +8.7% Villahermosa +2.8% San Jose Del Cabo +15.8% Veracruz +6.8% Puerto Vallarta +5.9% Chihuahua -25.0% Toluca |
| October 4th, 2014 at 8:18:48 AM permalink | |
| terapined Member since: Aug 6, 2014 Threads: 75 Posts: 12342 |
Of course my niche slice of the business travel market have particular destinations I often book due to the nature of their business. But Where is San Luis Potosi on this list.? I book some Monterrey, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Chihuahua. I easily book more into SLP then all the cities above combined. I book a lot of Mexico trips and would estimate that 75% of the trips are to SLP. Sometimes we live no particular way but our own - Grateful Dead "Eyes of the World" |
| October 4th, 2014 at 2:11:11 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
I didn't print the whole list. SLP is a pretty small airport in Mexico with flight to 4 domestic and 3 USA destinations. About 90% of domestic travel goes to Mexico City (231 miles). SLP domestic: Mexico City, Monterrey, Cancún, Tijuana SLP international: Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston-Intercontinental, McAllen 8.0% Cd. Juárez 7.8% Tuxtla Gutierrez (Angel Albino Corzo) 18.0% Bajío 0.4% Mexicali 8.7% Tampico 11.4% Cd. del Carmen 14.3% La Paz 5.0% Oaxaca 10.8% Mazatlán -2.6% Huatulco 3.9% Acapulco 24.5% Torreón 27.3% Reynosa 26.0% Aguascalientes 5.0% Zihuatanejo 4.4% Puebla 7.7% Durango 5.7% Morelia 10.9% Zacatecas 17.1% Cd. Obregón 53.3% San Luis Potosí 8.7% Tapachula -2.4% Chetumal 18.5% Los Mochis 30.8% Campeche 47.0% Minatitlán -17.9% Poza Rica -2.1% Uruapan 3.0% Colima -12.8% Matamoros -10.3% Nuevo Laredo 33.4% Puerto Escondido -7.9% Cozumel 10.2% Cd. Victoria 54.1% Querétaro 22.8% Manzanillo 33.8% Tepic -87.5% Cuernavaca -23.2% Guaymas 10.9% Nogales 46.6% Loreto -3.8% Tehuacán -23.9% Tamuín 961.0% Palenque Mexico is very different than the USA in that about half the air traffic is international, and half domestic. Then on top of that half the domestic traffic is going in and out of Mexico city. Traditionally Mexicans travel domestically by bus. Mexico has probably more buses per capita than any country in the world. During the 1988-1994 Presidential term, Salinas built a network of limited access highways. But the process was very corrupt and kickbacks may have been in the billions of USD. When he left office in December of 1994 the peso collapsed in a few weeks, and the contracts to maintain the roads were all renegotiated. But as the peso was now worth half as much as the dollar, and all the debts were dollar denominated, the tolls are huge. As the economy improved, the growing middle class drove domestic air travel from 20 to 30 million air passengers per year. But about 75 million intercity trips are done in luxury or business class buses. Mexican luxury bus  This still is from a 1950's movie, but it shows the habit of passengers on second class buses in rural Mexico to carry their baby animals.  The price of a luxury bus is not much cheaper than air fare in some cases. So as the domestic traffic expands, there is a tremendous pressure put on Mexico City airport. Tolucas is the capital of Mexico state (the largest state in the country of Mexico). The Toluca airport is only 33 air miles from the Federal District airport. The state of Mexico has a population of 16.6 million while the Federal District has a population of 8.9 million. People who oppose building a new multi-billion dollar airport in or near the Federal District are always pushing to expand the Toluca airport. The design for the new airport is by far the most elaborate airport in the Western Hemisphere.  |
| October 4th, 2014 at 5:28:34 PM permalink | |
| kenarman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 14 Posts: 4530 |
You are a much better researcher than me Paco but are you sure on your distance for LAX. It didn't feel right to me as I have landed at the exact same time as another jet on the other runway and it seemed way closer than 3/4 mile. I found 2 sites that put the distance at 700'. "but if you make yourselves sheep, the wolves will eat you." Benjamin Franklin |
| October 4th, 2014 at 6:11:41 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
 In the US 4300 ft allows simultaneous independent Instrument Landing System approaches. LAX has two sets of paired runways called North airfield and South airfield. The two runways on the north are 700' apart (center line to center line), and the two in south airfield are 800' apart. Most of the heavy jet operations use the South Airfield. But the inner runways of North and south Airfield are 4500' apart. I won't pretend to know what conditions the two closely spaced runways can be used. There may be detailed rules about weather conditions, cross winds, relative weights of the planes, and visibility. I do know that LAX has to handle quite a large number of tiny planes, from regional jets to turboprops, while at the same time handling the A380. The closely spaced runways allow a little bit of separation so that one plane is not in the other's wake. I am sure that the planes don't touch down at the exact same time. Theoretically, I believe that jets could be 180 degrees out of phase in landing at the North and South airfield, but I doubt that this happens frequently. Usually wind conditions would suggest one way or the other. In Mexico city the two parallel runways separated by 1000 feet between their axis making it impossible to operate simultaneous flights and, in theory, turning the airport into a single runway airport. However, one runway is used for landings and arrivals, while the other is used for departures. |