Starting in 2026, Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) will have increased apron capacity and additional positions , which will allow for increased cargo handling and make it the primary freight terminal.

According to the 2025-2030 Institutional Program , published by the Ministry of National Defense (Defensa) in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF) , cargo growth projects were anticipated; the initial infrastructure installed alone consisted of 16 facilities and warehouses to process 570,000 tons per year.

However, to date, six additional facilities have been built , increasing capacity by 240,000 tons, so that the cargo terminal currently has a total capacity of 810,000 tons per year with 22 facilities and warehouses.

Apron capacity is also being expanded to accommodate more aircraft simultaneously. Currently, five larger aircraft can be accommodated on the apron, and with the expansion, which will be completed in January 2026, there will be four additional positions for aircraft of the same type, such as the  Boeing 747-8F, for a total of nine positions.

“The projects described above are financed with our own resources; furthermore, the growth momentum is expected to continue and consolidate over the next five years, which will require beginning work on planning for the second phase of the AIFA Master Development Program,” the document stated.

The Ministry of Defense asserted that air cargo transportation is a strength that will be consolidated in less time than projected , so it will be necessary to accelerate the required investment “to expand the infrastructure at the cargo terminal as quickly as possible and meet the demand that will arise.”

He emphasized that the development of the northern part of the Valley of Mexico to create a development hub through an industrial logistics corridor, from the city of Pachuca to the northern part of Mexico City, will make AIFA a “center of gravity.”

“The scenario described above is an opportunity that AIFA will seize to establish another commercial strategy for the development of the Airport City, which will allow for orderly growth, in accordance with the land uses designated in the Master Development Plan for that space, which includes health services, shopping centers, parking lots, corporate buildings, aviation-related schools, and a ground transportation terminal,” he said.

Currently, 43 airlines operate freight transport through the AIFA : 17 scheduled cargo airlines, 26 charter airlines, and three mixed airlines (passenger and cargo), transporting a total of more than 633,000 tons.

By 2050, the Ministry of Defense has projected the maximum development of the AIFA , with the following characteristics:

• Three runways . For this stage of the project, the airport’s new north runway will be built, which will be used primarily for cargo handling.
• Two interconnected terminal buildings with a capacity of 85 million passengers . A second passenger terminal building will be built, and the connection building between the two passenger terminals will be completed, along with the expansion of Terminals 1 and 2 to increase the number of connecting positions.
• A cargo terminal with a capacity for three million tons per year . With the construction of the third runway, the airport’s cargo vocation is consolidated, with the construction of new facilities for this purpose, achieving the capacity to handle up to three million tons per year.
• A fuel terminal with a capacity of 80 million liters of jet fuel . The fuel terminal will also be expanded to meet fuel needs resulting from increased operations, with a capacity of up to 85 million liters.
• Control tower . The control tower was built from the ground up with the necessary and sufficient capacity to continue providing its services efficiently until the airport’s maximum development.

Additionally, he specified that a major challenge lies in developing a commercial and marketing strategy that will allow international airlines from Europe, Asia, and North America to be brought in , thereby boosting demand for flights to the airport.

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El cargo AIFA seeks to have greater cargo handling capacity by 2026. apareció primero en T21.

Over time, supply chains have developed needs and challenges that are faced with new trends, that is, more and more visibility is required at each step to have control of the operation, which is why a control tower has a great contribution to this activity.

In the Visibility and Control Tower in the Supply Chain panel , organized by the  National Council of Logistics and Supply Chain Executives (ConaLog), Erik Markeset, general director of Tsol , explained that the purpose of the control tower is to monitor , manage and control the supply chain , integrating all systems; Furthermore, it is based on technology.

He explained that initially this control tower was based on a dashboard that was fed manually , later it was integrated with business intelligence systems and increasingly with different technologies; so little by little it is moving from visibility to intelligence, through artificial intelligence the control towers are helping to solve different problems and make recommendations, they are even moving towards execution in the systems to respond to a change without the involvement of the logistics operator.

“It allows the organization to prioritize and understand what is happening. At the end of the day, we in the logistics chain aim to fulfill our delivery promise  in a more efficient way,” Markeset said.

In this sense, Javier Serrano, director of Conalog, pointed out that, according to  PWC , 86% of more than 600 executives surveyed demand more solutions in traceability and visibility.

“The Covid tragedy brought some collateral benefits, finally the CFO turned around and gave some CapEx. Investment in the supply chain has become so relevant, today the issue of investments in different technologies has increased,” he said.

However, he pointed out that despite this, all the benefits required are still not being taken advantage of, since, for example, another GODIS Survey indicates that only 6% of executives mentioned having total visibility in real time of your supply chain.

Control tower in logistics

Jorge García, director of logistics and systems at Impulsora Sahuayo , indicated that the grocery store supplier company is based on data collection models.

That is, they take information from their 400 supplier manufacturers, which have more than 1,200 plants and distribution centers, 12,000 delivery routes to deliver to 22 Impulsora Sahuayo distribution centers, to reach 40,000 customers with 17,000 routes. monthly to reach more than 10 million end consumers.

“It is not a manufacturing network, therefore it is simpler than the manufacturers, but at the same time it is complex because it has a large number of alternatives and the forecast models become complicated,” García explained.

For his part, Christian Aranda, Solistica ‘s operational planning manager , indicated that the control tower is essential for the company to ensure that deliveries arrive on time and in proper form, so it must be adapted to each client .

For this reason, he pointed out that Solistica integrates this tower into its network of carriers, to be able to carry out analysis with robust data to deliver reports and have simplification and centralization of information.

Given this panorama, Jorge García indicated that it is necessary to have a strategy outlined and know what data or KPIs (performance indicators) need to be measured; in addition to having good integration in all the actors of the operation within the company.

On the other hand, Javier Serrano assured that there are main aspects for the implementation of a control tower. In the first instance, he pointed out that not everything has to be done in the company, that is, it is necessary to consider partners or specialists who can guide; as well as having a level of maturity of the tools and systems.

In addition, it is necessary to have talent trained in the use of these technologies and to empower the members of the tower to make decisions.

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El cargo Control towers: an evolution in line with logistics needs apareció primero en T21.