MEPs suspended Mexico’s cabotage approval process

The coordinator of the AT in the House of Representatives, Ruben Moreira Valdez reports that during the meeting on Tuesday 14 March between the heads of benches and the Secretary of the Interior, Adam Augusto Lopez, agreed to “stop to reflect” on the initiative sent by the President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador where he raises the cabotage to foreign airlines.

The PRI legislator said the meeting also addressed the issue of the application of the Airport Usage Fee (TUA)that is, the tax charged by airports to travelers through air tickets, as well as airport security and the need to increase destinations or routes.

“Some MPs have talked about the importance of reviewing the airport regime, as they significantly increase the cost of tickets. We talked about the lack of technology in some of them, the fact that they get in the way or (are) intrusive for passengers and about security,” said the former governor of Coahuila.

Currently, the initiative is entrusted to the Committees for Communications and Transport, Economy and Infrastructure of the Chamber of Deputies.

Let us recall that the President of the Republic, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, addressed to the Chamber of Deputies an initiative for the reform of the General civil aviation and airport law so that foreign airlines can cover destinations inside Mexico, once they arrive in the national territory.

Moreira Valdez said opposition parties have asked to discuss this proposal, “because there are many problems, in the field of aviation there are many problems. Today we have many cities that are not communicated, there is a high cost of tickets, there are inconveniences with airports in terms of income, there are security problems ”.

The previous week the National Chamber of Air Transport (Canaero) rejected that the Mexican government opens cabotage to foreign companies, because it would be a blow for the national industry

,The main airlines of the country, such as you will fly there Aeromexicojoined the criticism of the initiative of the executive, and denied that this measure manages to reduce the price of air tickets.

Given the initiative to reform the Airports Act and the Civil aviation lawCanaero warned of a crisis in the sector, because allowing foreign competition on national territory will increase the plane ticket priceit will disconnect cities and could even lead to business failures and job losses.

“Most countries prohibit cabotage because it is a strategy indicated for nations whose geographical location or other conditions prevent good connectivity (…) Countries which have authorized cabotage without studies or a strategy such as the proposed reform, they lost their airlines and their jobs, generating a connectivity and competitiveness crisis,” Canaero said.