| Tijuana International Airport General Abelardo L. Rodríguez International Airport |
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|---|---|---|---|
| View of Main Terminal | |||
| IATA: TIJ – ICAO: MMTJ | |||
| 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 | |||
| Website | |||
| Map | |||
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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 (2010) | |||
| Total Passengers | 3,649,500 | ||
| 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 2010, Tijuana International Airport handled 3,649,500 passengers, representing a 7.1% increase from 2009; as former low cost carrier operator Avolar based in Tijuana suspended operations due to financial difficulties. 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] However, the airline will temporarily suspend service to Shanghai 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 the first low-cost airline in Mexico, before some airlines as Interjet and Volaris.
It is part of the Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, a holding group that controls 12 international airports in central and northern Mexico.
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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.
By the end of the 60's, 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.
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 international gateway from Asia to Latinamerica, 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.
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 that would relieve the high congestion at San Diego International Airport.[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. 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 completion date as early as late 2012.[4]
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.
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, the Old Airport Terminal, which houses military aviation, mostly performed by the Mexican Armed Forces. The airport is also used to a lesser extent for general aviation, housed at the General Aviation Building (GAB Terminal).
Main Terminal:
GAB Terminal:
Old Airport Terminal
| Airlines | Destinations | Concourse |
|---|---|---|
| Aéreo Calafia | La Paz, Loreto, Los Cabos, Mazatlan | A |
| Aeroméxico | Guadalajara, León/El Bajío, Morelia, Mexico City, Shanghai-Pudong, Tokyo-Narita | A |
| Aeroméxico Connect | Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Obregón, Culiacán, Durango, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Mexico City, Monterrey | A |
| Interjet | Guadalajara, Mexico City | A |
| VivaAerobus | Culiacán | B |
| Volaris | Acapulco, Aguascalientes, Cancún, Cuernavaca, Culiacán, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, La Paz, León/El Bajío, Los Mochis, Mazatlán, Mexico City, Monterrey, Morelia, Oaxaca, Puebla, Puerto Vallarta/Riviera Nayarit, San José del Cabo, Toluca, Uruapan, Zacatecas | A & B |
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| FlyMex operated by FlyAmigo | Colima |
| Global Air (Mexico) | Puerto Peñasco |
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Ameriflight | Ontario |
| Estafeta | Culiacán, Hermosillo |
| TSM | Hermosillo, Queretaro |
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 this armed forces agencies usually arrive from the Mexican Air Force Central Region, mostly from Mexico City International Airport or nearby airbases.
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.
| Rank | City | Passengers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guadalajara, Jalisco | 435,235 |
| 2 | México, D.F | 405,297 |
| 3 | Culiacán, Sinaloa | 134,099 |
| 4 | Toluca, Estado de Mexico | 111,411 |
| 5 | Hermosillo, Sonora | 73,958 |
| 6 | León, Guanajuato | 71,953 |
| 7 | Morelia, Michoacan | 69,741 |
| 8 | Monterrey, Nuevo León | 65,872 |
| 9 | Uruapan, Michoacan | 43,688 |
| 10 | Puebla, Puebla | 43,051 |
| 11 | La Paz, Baja California Sur | 39,270 |
| 12 | Zacatecas, Zacatecas | 35,091 |
| 13 | Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes | 29,708 |
| 14 | Acapulco, Guerrero | 24,691 |
| 15 | Oaxaca, Oaxaca | 23,445 |
The airport may be reached from Downtown Tijuana or Zona Rio by local bus. It costs $11.00 MXP ($0.95 USD).
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 either to Mexico or the United States reach their final destination.
Due to a prohibition by Mexican law, Mexican cities' public taxis may only drop passengers to 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.
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