Tijuana International Airport
| Tijuana International Airport General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport |
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| View of Main Terminal | |||
IATA: TIJ – ICAO: MMTJ
 TIJ
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public, Military | ||
| Operator | Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico | ||
| Serves | Tijuana-San Diego | ||
| Location | Tijuana, Baja California | ||
| Hub for | Volaris | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 149 m / 489 ft | ||
| Coordinates | 32°32′27″N 116°58′12″W / 32.54083°N 116.97000°WCoordinates: 32°32′27″N 116°58′12″W / 32.54083°N 116.97000°W | ||
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TIJ
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| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 09/27 | 2,960 | 9,711 | Asphalt |
| 2,000 | 6,561 | ||
| Statistics (2011) | |||
| Total Passengers | 3,738,000 | ||
| Source: Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico | |||
Tijuana International Airport (IATA: TIJ, ICAO: MMTJ), sometimes referred to as General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport, in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, is Mexico's second northernmost airport after Mexicali International Airport. In 2012, Tijuana International Airport handled 3,738,000 passengers, representing a 7.5% increase from 2011. It is the fifth busiest airport in Mexico after Mexico City, Cancun, Guadalajara and Monterrey airports. The airport can handle up to 10 million passengers per year and 360 flights per day.
The airport serves as focus city for Aeroméxico (together with Aeroméxico Connect), the leading airline in Tijuana, which operates up to 20 daily flights to/from 15 Mexican cities. Aeroméxico is trying to develop the airport as a gateway to Asia. Since the first flight in November 2006, Aeroméxico operates 3 weekly flights to Tokyo-Narita. Aeroméxico resumed services to Shanghai on March 26, 2010 after the airline halted service 11 months earlier due to the Swine flu outbreak.[1] The airline temporarily suspended service to Shanghai once again from September 4, 2011 to January 10, 2012. The airport serves as hub for Volaris, currently the second leading airline at TIJ, and the only one operating at both concourses. It formerly was a focus city for Aero California, Aerolíneas Internacionales, Líneas Aéreas Azteca, and ALMA de Mexico. Tijuana's airport was the largest and main hub for Avolar, a new low-cost airline (since August 2005), and the airport's second leading airline at a time. It was one of the first low-cost airlines in Mexico, after some airlines such as, SARO and TAESA.
It is part of the Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, a holding group that controls 12 international airports in central and northern Mexico.
History
The airport opened in 1958, replacing Tijuana's former airport, then located on today's Aguacaliente Boulevard. The new airport's first terminal was built on the southwest part of the airport, facing the new and current terminal building. The airport was incorporated to ASA in 1965.
In the 1960s, the demand of flights to the then-developing city of Tijuana increased, as more passengers were arriving and settling in the city. The construction of the new terminal began and was opened on October 15, 1970, by then-President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz.
The original terminal was then assigned as an air base for the Mexican Armed Forces, and it is now simply known as the aeropuerto viejo, or old airport. The terminal, however, is seldom referred as Terminal 1, with Main Terminal being referred as Terminal 2.
The airport is named after General Abelardo L. Rodríguez, Governor of Baja California, and late President of Mexico.
Expansion
The airport terminal was expanded and renovated in 2002, when the extension of concourse A and B was built, allowing the terminal to double its capacity. Several taxiways were also expanded, to allow the operations of larger aircraft such as the Boeing 747. Nevertheless, as the airport has become one of the most important hubs and gateways in the country, and the only non-stop international gateway from Asia to Latin America, there is a plan of a new terminal, which could house the operations of the major airline at the airport: Aeroméxico (including Aeroméxico Connect). As of today, both of the concourses have been expanded and remodeled, including the progressive introduction of glass-jetways replacing the old ones.
The airport's main terminal is currently undergoing major renovations at Concourse A and B, including new customs facilities, demolition and construction of a new bus terminal, and other exterior renovations.
Cross Border Terminal
In 2008, authorities from both Mexico and the United States launched Project Smart Border 2010,[2] which expressed the intent to build an alternate U.S.-Mexico terminal.[3] The project consists of a terminal building on U.S. soil, adjacent to the border, with parking, check-in counters, and customs offices that would be linked to the Tijuana airport via a bridge crossing the border allowing greater access to flights out of Tijuana Airport. Property on the U.S. side of the border has already been secured for this project, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has provided approval, allowing the project to move forward with an expected groundbreaking in 2012.[4]
Location
Runway 09/27 runs east-west approximately 300 meters south of the U.S.-Mexico border. The approach to the runway is either from the east (normally) or from the west (when Santa Ana wind conditions exist).
Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM/KSDM) in San Diego, California lies just over one nautical mile (about 2 km) north of TIJ, with a similar runway length and orientation. However SDM is a general aviation field not set up for scheduled passenger service. Both SDM and TIJ are designated ports of entry.
Facilities
Commercially speaking, the airport is composed of a single runway, a parallel taxiway, and a 23 gate main terminal with two concourses, a food court and a high-tech control tower, one of the tallest in Mexico. At the opposite side of the Main Terminal building there is another terminal and runway, the Old Airport Terminal, which houses military aviation, mostly performed by the Mexican Armed Forces; south of the adjacent runway (closed for commercial operations), there are 4 remote positions, mostly used by cargo airliners, linked by a shorter taxiway to the main runway. The airport is also used to a lesser extent for general aviation, housed at the General Aviation Building (GAB Terminal).
Main Terminal:
- Number of gates: 23
- Contact positions: 12
- Remote positions: 4
- Number of jetways: 10
- Lounges:
- Aeroméxico Salón Premier (Concourse A - Floor Level)
- VIP Room Tijuana (Main Terminal - Upper Level)
- Food court (Concourses A, B - Floor & Upper Level)
- Customs & Immigration (International Arrivals are handled at Concourse B, departures at Concourse A)
- Passport & Nationality Control (Domestic arrivals)
- Taxi & car rentals (Arrivals & Departures area)
- Bus Terminal (East of Main Terminal)
- Duty Free (Main corridor, Concourses A, B)
- Parking area (Building E)
GAB Terminal:
- General aviation apron
- VIP Room
- Pilots lounge
- Passengers lounge
Old Airport Terminal
- Apron
- Contact positions: 2
- Remote positions: 4
- Helipads: 3
- Parking area
Terminals, airlines and destinations
- Main Terminal
- International arrivals are handled at Concourse B.
| Airlines | Destinations | Concourse |
|---|---|---|
| Aéreo Calafia | Cabo San Lucas, Ciudad Obregón, La Paz, Loreto | A |
| Aeroméxico | Guadalajara, León/El Bajío, Mexico City, Morelia, Shanghai-Pudong, Tokyo-Narita |
A |
| Aeroméxico Connect | Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Obregón, Durango, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Mexico City, Monterrey | A |
| Interjet | Guadalajara, Mexico City, Toluca/Mexico City (begins May 23, 2013) | A |
| VivaAerobus | Culiacán | B |
| Volaris | Acapulco, Aguascalientes, Cancún, Colima, Culiacán, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, La Paz, León/El Bajío, Los Mochis, Mazatlán, Manzanillo (begins July 5, 2013), Mexico City, Monterrey, Morelia, Oaxaca, Puebla, Puerto Vallarta, Queretaro, San José del Cabo, Tepic, Uruapan, Zacatecas | A/B |
Guatemala City begins September 12
Charter airlines
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| FlyMex operated by FlyAmigo | Colima |
| Global Air (Mexico) | Puerto Peñasco |
Cargo airlines
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Ameriflight | Ontario |
| Estafeta | Culiacán, Hermosillo |
| TSM[disambiguation needed] | Hermosillo, Querétaro |
Old Airport Terminal
The Old Airport Terminal (known for locals as Aeropuerto Viejo, old airport) is set for aviation of the Mexican Military and federal police forces. This military airbase belongs to the Northwestern Region of the Mexican Air Force. One cargo airline operates at the terminal.
In-coming flights of these armed forces agencies usually arrive from the Mexican Air Force Central Region, mostly from Mexico City International Airport or nearby airbases.
GAB Terminal
Note: The General Aviation Building (GAB Terminal) is used for general/non-commercial aviation or private jets. The General Aviation Building is designed to receive up to 120 persons per hour and it has all the services for the convenience of passengers during their private flights. It has a surface of 420 sq. mts. [4,700 sq. ft.], where there are government offices, administrative offices, a pilots lounge and passenger lounge. Two aviation schools are based at this terminal, along with one cargo airline operating there.
Traffic statistics
| Rank | City | Passengers | Aerolines |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  México, D.F |
439,227 | Aeroméxico, Aeroméxico Connect, Interjet, Volaris |
| 2 |  Guadalajara, Jalisco |
398,255 | Aeroméxico, Aeroméxico Connect, Interjet, Volaris |
| 3 |  Culiacán, Sinaloa |
131,712 | Aeroméxico Connect, VivaAerobus, Volaris |
| 4 |  Morelia, Michoacan |
69,760 | Aeroméxico, Volaris |
| 5 |  León, Guanajuato |
67,768 | Aeroméxico, Volaris |
| 6 |  Hermosillo, Sonora |
62,422 | Aeroméxico Connect, Volaris |
| 7 |  Monterrey, Nuevo León |
57,632 | Aeroméxico Connect, Volaris |
| 8 |  Toluca, Estado de Mexico |
50,776 | Volaris |
| 9 |  Puebla, Puebla |
45,048 | Volaris |
| 10 | Uruapan, Michoacan |
41,685 | Volaris |
| 11 |  La Paz, Baja California Sur |
41,187 | Volaris |
| 12 |  Zacatecas, Zacatecas |
36,315 | Volaris |
| 13 |  Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes |
32,152 | Volaris |
| 14 |  Oaxaca, Oaxaca |
27,549 | Volaris |
| 15 | San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur |
27,247 | Volaris |
Ground transportation
Bus
The airport may be reached from Downtown Tijuana or Zona Rio by local bus. It costs $11.00 MXP ($0.95 USD).
Shuttle
Aeroméxico provides a shuttle service from San Diego, California, United States[6] to General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport to allow San Diego residents make connections within Mexico, Japan, while Volaris provides a shuttle service between the airport and San Diego International Airport to allow passengers travelling to the United States reach their final destination. You cannot board this shuttle at San Diego International Airport.
Taxi
Due to a prohibition by Mexican law, Mexican cities' public taxis may drop passengers at the airport, but cannot pick up passengers from the terminal. The airport thus offers transportation for passengers from the terminal to any point of the city on the SAAT Taxis (Servicio Aeroportuario de Autotransporte Terrestre, Spanish for Terrestrial Transport Airport Service, an airport government-leased taxi company). This and other authorized taxi carriers may be reached at the arrivals hall.
Incidents and accidents
- Aeroméxico Flight 498: On August 31, 1986 an Aeroméxico DC-9 that originated from Mexico City with stops at Tijuana and other Mexican destinations collided with a private aircraft while attempting to land at Los Angeles International Airport.
- On February 6, 1996, a Cessna 500 with registration XA-SLQ from Aerotaxi Cachanilla crashed on takeoff from Tijuana to Ensenada, the two pilots and six passengers died in the crash.
- TAESA Flight 725: On November 9, 1999, enroute from Tijuana to Mexico City, with a stop in Uruapan, Michoacán, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 went down a few minutes after leaving Uruapan International Airport en route to Mexico City. 18 people were killed in the accident, which prompted inquiries regarding the airline's safety and maintenance procedures, and led to the collapse of the airline months later.
- Aeroméxico Flight 2130: On September 6, 2001, a Saab 340B Aerolitoral's aircraft, today Aeroméxico Connect, ran out of fuel while enroute from Ciudad Juárez to Tijuana, and had to make an emergency landing in the Palms Valley, Baja California. The were no casualties.
- Northwest Aeronautical Institute: On November 16, 2009, whilst on a training flight, a Piper Cherokee suffered an engine failure forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing at the airport in Tijuana. The pilot landed the aircraft at the airport but the plane sufered some damage. The operations were canceled for about an hour in the General Aviation Terminal of the airport. The two people aboard escaped with only minor injuries.
- Aeroméxico: On January 21, 2010, an Aeroméxico Connect struggled to land in difficult weather conditions. After circling the airport, the plane attemtped to land and the plane skid off the runway, and ended up with a wing buried in the mud. No injuries were reported.
Gallery
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Control tower.
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Main corridor.
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Luggage claim conveyors.
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Parking Lot.
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East front side of the terminal.
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View of airport.
See also
↑Jump back a section
References
- ^ "Tijuana-Shanghai flights to resume | UTSanDiego.com". Signonsandiego.com. 2010-01-12. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
- ^ (Spanish) Lanzan México y EU iniciativa binacional, from El Financiero
- ^ (Spanish) Quieren en Tijuana terminal binacional, from Excelsior
- ^ "La Plaza". Los Angeles Times. August 5, 2010.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Creating a connection," San Diego Union-Tribune
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tijuana International Airport |
- Tijuana International Airport
- Current weather at MMTJ from NOAA
- Airport information for MMTJ at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
- Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico - Company which operates the airport.
- General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport at Google Maps
- Off-Airport Parking and Ground Transportation
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