Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Benito Juárez International Airport (MMMX) is Mexico's busiest airport, sitting at high elevation within the dense urban fabric of eastern Mexico City. It offers a major SkyTeam hub environment for Aeroméxico with two closely-spaced parallel runway pairs and full ATC services, making it an interesting but demanding hot-and-high destination for simulator pilots.
Benito Juárez International Airport, officially Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez and commonly abbreviated AICM, is the principal international gateway for Mexico City. It is owned by the Mexican Navy and operated by Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de México, serving as the primary hub for Aeroméxico and Aeroméxico Connect within the SkyTeam alliance, and also supporting Volaris and Viva. For a simulator pilot the field is notable for its high field elevation, dense surrounding urban development that constrains approach and departure paths, and its status as one of the busiest two-runway airports in the world, with around 850 movements a day.
The airport lies in Venustiano Carranza, within Mexico City, in a heavily built-up area that limits room for infrastructure expansion around the field. It sits close to the city centre and is part of the wider Mexico City airport system alongside Toluca International Airport and Felipe Ángeles International Airport. The Mexico City Area Control Center, which has operated continuously since November 24, 1978, manages the surrounding airspace.
The airport has two physical parallel runways. Runway 05L/23R is 11,371 feet (05L) and 11,200 feet (23R), a hard surface with lighting. Runway 05R/23L is 11,551 feet (05R) and 13,057 feet (23L), also a hard, lit surface, with runway 23L equipped with an ILS. The close spacing of the two parallel runways prevents fully independent simultaneous operations, which limits overall airport capacity.
Radio services include Mexico Approach on 121.2 MHz and Mexico Arrival on 129.6 MHz, an ATIS on 127.65 MHz, clearance delivery on 122.1 MHz, Mexico Departure on 120.5 MHz, ground on 121 MHz, an information/radio frequency on 126.9 MHz, and Mexico Tower on 118.55 MHz. The field is equipped with ILS.
The site, known as Llanos de Balbuena, has hosted aviation activity since 1910, when Alberto Braniff made the first powered flight over Mexican soil there in a French Voisin aircraft. On November 30, 1911, President Francisco I. Madero became the world's first head of state to fly in an airplane, piloted by Geo M. Dyott of Moisant International, from the same site. Balbuena Military Airport opened in 1915 with five runways, and a small civilian airport followed in 1928, with regular commercial service from 1929 and official inauguration on May 15, 1931. International status was granted on July 8, 1943, with the first international route to Los Angeles operated by Mexicana de Aviación. Between 1949 and 1951 the airport gained a new runway, 05R-23L, along with an apron, control tower and administration offices, and President Miguel Alemán inaugurated a renovated terminal on November 19, 1952. By 1956 the field operated four runways: 05L-23R, 05R-23L, and the shorter 13-31 and Runway 5 Auxiliary, the former replacing an earlier 14-32 runway sited too close to residential areas. The airport's name changed from Aeropuerto Central to Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México on December 2, 1963. In the 1970s the two shortest runways, 13/31 and 5 Auxiliary, were closed to make way for a housing development, leaving the airport with its current two-runway layout. The Mexico City Area Control Center began operating on November 24, 1978. The terminal was expanded in 1980 and reconfigured in 1990 to separate domestic and international operations, with a new international section opening on April 11, 1994. During the 1990s Mexicana began decentralising operations to other Mexican cities to ease congestion, and in 1994 all general aviation activity was moved to Toluca International Airport, after which general aviation was prohibited at the field except for authorised military, government and commercial flights. A satellite concourse with eight gates was added east of the main terminal in 2001.
Benito Juárez International Airport remains Mexico's busiest airport and continues to operate at full capacity as part of the wider Mexico City airport system alongside Toluca and Felipe Ángeles International Airports. It hosts SENEAM, the Mexican civil aviation navigation services agency, the Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC), and a Mexican Air Force base. General aviation operations have been prohibited at the field since 1994, when they were relocated to Toluca International Airport, so only military, government, commercial and specifically authorised flights are permitted.
