• DEAL: Mexico’s state-owned airport operator (GACM) finalized a deal to buy the 49% stake owned by Aleática (formerly OHL) in the Toluca airport, allowing the López Obrador administration to go forward with its plan to create a three-airport system to serve Mexico City.
• TALKS: According to a source close to the talks, GACM agreed Wednesday to buy Aleatica’s stake for an undisclosed amount and would now have a controlling 75% stake in the Toluca airport, which is located 43 miles from the oversaturated Mexico City International Airport (AICM).
• LOWPOINT: At its peak, the Toluca airport served 4.3 million passengers in 2008, but traffic has fallen dramatically, with only 689,000 passengers in 2019, per government data. During the past decade, a couple of commercial airlines (Volaris and Interjet) moved out the bulk of their operations.
• PLANS: The López Obrador administration wants to maximize Toluca’s capacity (8 million passengers) along with converting the Santa Lucía military airfield into an airport able to handle 20 million passengers in order to help the saturated AICM that recorded 50.3 million passengers in 2019.
