The next expansion of the cargo terminal of the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) faces the challenge of not repeating the errors that were made in the migration of dedicated freighters, in addition to implementing a series of actions that allow the handling of goods by air travel in Mexico is competitive.
“We have to sit down to find out what we learned from the first migration, because these six terminals are going to require the same for the migration on September 1, they have to be equipped, certified, proven that the systems are good, it is a process that we have to repeat,” said Rigoberto López, Regional Cargo Manager Americas of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) .
In this sense, he stated that it is necessary to facilitate consultations on growth strategies for the construction of the six warehouses that are going to be built in Santa Lucía, as well as for the new cargo terminal at the Tulum airport.
He explained that currently it is still difficult to connect a cargo that arrives at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) and that has an international destination departing from the AIFA.
“Yes it can be done, but we have definitely lost competitiveness. What the importer is looking for is to connect in another country, sending the cargo to another country instead of going through Mexico. “They send it somewhere else,” he said.
He commented that the migration of freighters caused cost increases due to duplication of operations, a situation that is repeated with customs agents, with two warehouses carrying out the same processes.
While the time to transport goods is longer due to the lack of connectivity, lack of trained personnel throughout the supply chain. “It’s something that hit us a lot because at the end of the day we had to continue operations and train people, we are still training,” he said.
But he also said that a loss of competitiveness was generated compared to other means of transport derived from the increase in costs and times, “when someone uses air transport it is because they want it to be fast and not spend three or four days in a warehouse and In the end, the transit times between the two airports are making us less competitive.”
Likewise, Rigoberto López mentioned that security problems with the goods were recorded during their transfer by land to the new airport, a two-hour transfer to the new workplace and with high costs and operational inefficiencies due to lack of time.
However, he mentioned that work groups were created to learn about the processes in air cargo handling, training was carried out, a project was presented and a successful migration was achieved.
To avoid these complications, López mentioned that channels of dialogue must be opened with the cargo airline industry, improve current regulations and incorporate best international practice processes.
It is also necessary to eliminate the 4% tax on the export of goods by air, since it puts the country at a competitive disadvantage, since this rate does not exist in other nations in the region.
He explained that compliance with international safety standards must be maintained to ensure a solid airline industry in Mexico, using advanced electronic information through risk analysis matrices to identify safety problems and the expeditious release of goods.
“13 years ago we digitized air cargo processes, for 13 years the government has received electronic transmissions, flight manifests, air waybills and today all customs offices still have paper. No, it is not worth much for the private initiative to implement digitalization processes if we are not going to work from the government to eliminate paper and accelerate our merchandise release processes, it is something that we would like to see with customs agents, cargo agents and warehouses” , said.
He mentioned that approval of procedures is required at customs where cargo is handled, to avoid complications for importers, customs agents or the airline.
Comment and follow us on X:@GrupoT21
