Monterrey International Airport
Monterrey International Airport,, ceremonial name General Mariano Escobedo International Airport, is an international airport located in Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico. Together with Del Norte International Airport, the airport handles domestic and international operations for the city of Monterrey and its metropolitan area.
There are almost 300 daily flights to more than 35 destinations in Mexico and the United States. It is the country's fourth busiest airport and is the busiest in northern Mexico. Only Mexico City, Cancún, and Guadalajara serve more passengers per year than Monterrey International Airport.
The airport serves as a hub for Aeroméxico, Magnicharters, and VivaAerobus, and a focus city for Interjet and Volaris. Airport terminals were renovated and expanded in 2003 and 2007.
It's also one of the fastest growing airports in Mexico and among the Top 15 in Latin America: in 2018, the airport handled 10,733,186 passengers, and in 2019 it handled 11,176,555 passengers.
Terminal configurations
Terminal A
Terminal A consists of a building comprising check-in facilities, baggage claiming, shopping areas, restaurants, customs, airport and airline offices, as many other services, while the satellite building connected via tunnels comprises all the VIP and waiting lounges, migration among other services as well as obviously the boarding gates. The Satellite building, is divided into two concourses, North Concourse for domestic flights, while South Concourse comprises all the international flights that operate into the airport. Several flights are delayed day by day due to the lack of free contact and even remote positions, as the ones capable of handling large aircraft such as the Boeing 787. Nevertheless, Terminal C and Terminal B work as a relief system for this terminal. There are future plans to remodel and expand the Satellite building, adding at least 4 new jetways and 3 remote positions.Terminal B
Terminal B is considered as the second most modern air facility in the country, it was opened on September 2010. The terminal comprise 8 gates, 6 of which are equipped with jetways and 2 apron-doors which might be used by Aeroméxico's feeder airline Aeroméxico Connect. The terminal house all operations of the SkyTeam member airlines, similar to Terminal 2 in Mexico City International Airport. The airport terminal is able to handle up to 2 million passengers per year, and allows the airport to free some slots for new airlines to operate into Terminal A.Terminal C
Terminal C, inaugurated on November 30, 2006, houses the operations from low-cost carrier serving the airport, VivaAerobus. This terminal works completely independent to Terminal A, opposite to Terminal B functionality.Air Cargo Terminal
"Air Cargo Terminal' was recently launched and has for operations. Courier companies operating nationally and abroad, notably FedEx, DHL, UPS, Estafeta.Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte
, the airport company operating this airport, has its headquarters in the air cargo zone.Facilities
The airport resides at an elevation of 1280 feet above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 11/29 with an asphalt surface measuring 3,000 by 45 metres. A second runway which is rarely used is designated 16/34 and also has an asphalt surface with a stretch of 1,801 by 30 metres. The main runway, 11/29, has an ILS approach system and has its own VHF omnidirectional radio range and DME station. It is also capable of handling aircraft such as the Boeing 747-400, but due to the lack of remote positions, this airport is mainly used by smaller aircraft. In September 2014, Monterrey commenced its first intercontinental flight in years when Aeromexico began flying its Boeing 787 Dreamliner four days a week to Tokyo-Narita as a fuel stop to flights between Mexico City International Airport and Tokyo-Narita. Aeromexico stated that the flight would last while Tijuana International Airport, the usual stop between the Aeromexico flight to Tokyo, made improvements to its runway. Monterrey was selected due to its importance to the country's economy and for being a popular business destination. Later on, Aeromexico's flight from Mexico City to Tokyo-Narita was upgraded into a direct flight, with once a day flights leaving from Mexico City. the Tokyo flights from Monterrey have since been discontinued.Due to the growing Korean population in Monterrey, Aeroméxico also operated a direct flight from Monterrey to Seoul Incheon airport. This was the airport's first intercontinental flight since the discontinuation of the Tokyo-Narita route operating through Monterrey. The flights to Seoul were also discontinued.
- Terminal A: 9 contact positions, 12 remote positions
- Terminal B: 6 contact positions, 7 remote positions
- Terminal C: 8 remote positions
- *VivaAerobus has its corporate headquarters in the Cargo Zone of Terminal C
- Number of jetways: 9, 6
- Number of baggage claiming carousels: 4
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
Cargo
Busiest routes
| Rank | City | Passengers | Ranking | Airlines |
| 1 | , Mexico City | 1,786,352 | Aeroméxico, Aeroméxico Connect, Interjet, VivaAerobus, Volaris | |
| 2 | , Cancún | 687,049 | Aeroméxico, Interjet, Magni, VivaAerobus, Volaris | |
| 3 | , Guadalajara | 418,213 | Aeroméxico Connect, TAR, VivaAerobus, Volaris | |
| 4 | , Tijuana | 222,379 | VivaAerobus, Volaris | |
| 5 | , Querétaro | 153,084 | Aeroméxico Connect, TAR, VivaAerobus | |
| 6 | , León | 134,263 | 1 | Aeroméxico Connect, VivaAerobus |
| 7 | , Puerto Vallarta | 133,022 | 2 | Magni, VivaAerobus, Volaris |
| 8 | , Chihuahua | 120,701 | Aeroméxico Connect, Magni, VivaAerobus | |
| 9 | , Toluca | 113,316 | 3 | Interjet, VivaAerobus |
| 10 | , Veracruz | 111,041 | 4 | TAR, VivaAerobus |
| 11 | , Mérida | 106,953 | 1 | VivaAerobus, Volaris |
| 12 | , Puebla | 101,924 | 2 | Aeroméxico Connect, VivaAerobus, Volaris |
| 13 | , Hermosillo | 99,929 | Aeroméxico Connect, VivaAerobus | |
| 14 | , Ciudad Juárez | 87,233 | 3 | Aeroméxico Connect, VivaAerobus |
| 15 | , Villahermosa | 72,839 | VivaAerobus |
Accidents and incidents
- On February 11, 2010, Click Mexicana Flight 7222, operated by Fokker 100 XA-SHJ suffered an undercarriage malfunction on approach to Quetzalcóatl International Airport, Nuevo Laredo. A low fly-past confirmed that both main gears had not deployed. The aircraft diverted to Monterrey. It was substantially damaged in the landing, having departed the runway and spun through 180°.
- On April 13, 2010 an Aerounion – Aerotransporte de Carga Union Airbus A-300B4-200, registration XA-TUE performing a freight flight, AeroUnion Flight 302 from Mexico to Monterrey with 5 crew, crashed on approach to land on General Mariano Escobedo International Airport's runway 11. The aircraft came to rest on a highway at around 23:30L. All on board perished, 1 person in a truck on the highway was also reported killed, the airplane was destroyed after a large fire broke out.
- On November 24, 2010 a Mexican Air Force AN-32 cargo flight crashed when taking off from General Mariano Escobedo International Airport for a flight to Mexico City. All 5 crew members died.
- On December 9, 2012, a Learjet 25 carrying Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera and 4 other passengers, and 2 crew, crashed 7 minutes after take-off, while on its way to Toluca. All seven occupants died.