Mexican airports are seeing continued growth in their cargo volumes. And operators are predicting sustained increases as the year progresses.
Both domestic and international volumes are showing increases, with an overall growth in throughput of 5.2% in the first two months of 2023. International traffic is showing the largest increase, with rises of over 7%.
“Growth in 2023 is not what we saw last year at this time, but we continue to grow. The first quarter ended positive and we project growth will continue for the rest of the year.” Carlos Duron, Mexpress President
Why the increase?
The strong export and import demand seemed to be driven by manufacturing industries based in Mexico. Manufacturers are no longer depending on one country to produce their products, and are now widening their locations. Mexico is attracting many industries, including pharma, aerospace and automotive manufacturers.
Mr Duron confirmed that some of the increase was from manufacturing capacity being established in Mexico, as companies look to near-shore production. “We have projects that will start during this quarter; new business due to nearshoring and continuous re-shifting by forwarders using the US as a bridge to/from Mexico that fit our road feeder model,” he explained.
The German carrier, Lufthansa Cargo, has also reported strong demand in the region. In addition to passenger flights, Lufthansa now operates six weekly freighters to Mexico City.