On October 13, 2025, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) notified several Mexican airlines of an order canceling all services between the United States and Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA), and suspending 13 current or planned routes operated by Mexican carriers to the neighboring country. The DOT considers that operating the services associated with those routes would harm the U.S. public interest.
This measure was taken in response to Mexico’s alleged non-compliance with the 2015 bilateral agreement, referring to Mexico’s 2023 presidential decree (the Decree) that prohibited all cargo operations to or from AICM, except for combined passenger and cargo services. At that time, the justification for moving cargo services out of AICM was primarily the August 2022 resolution declaring the airport’s terminal buildings saturated.
This prompted American airlines with exclusive cargo services to move their operations to AIFA.
For the DOT, the limitation on the volume of traffic by U.S. airlines at the AICM is contrary to Article 11(1) and (2) of the bilateral agreement in two respects: (i) it fails to respect the principle that the airlines of each party state have fair and equal opportunities to compete, and (ii) it unilaterally limits the volume of traffic, frequency, and regularity of service of U.S. airlines. Those airlines have been prevented from fully exercising the rights granted to them under the agreement. The DOT also argues that Mexico has breached Annex 1(B) of the bilateral agreement, which grants U.S. airlines the right to operate cargo services to any point in Mexico.
The Mexican government’s position has been that the Decree is consistent with the bilateral agreement and the Chicago Convention (Articles 1, 15, and 68), according to a letter from the SICT dated October 3, 2025, which the DOT itself cites.
According to the referenced articles, a contracting state has sovereignty to adopt measures concerning its airspace, as well as the right to designate the route that any international air service must follow within its territory and the airports it may use.
The truth is that the DOT order will affect not only Mexican airlines but also domestic tourism and, of course, passengers. Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism in the previous administration has indicated that, as a result of the DOT’s decision, a loss of 202,500 tourists is projected for the winter season, along with a direct economic loss of 66.5 million for Mexico during that season alone.
Meetings requested by Mexican officials with their U.S. counterparts are projected to take place to try to reach an agreement that mitigates the impact of this measure.
