It’s been a long time coming, but the Guadalajara International Airport (GDL) will finally become Mexico’s fourth airport to feature at least two runways.
The Transportation Ministry fully certified the new runway earlier this month and airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP) announced its inauguration will take place on July 23.
The second runway is the centerpiece of a five-year, $16 billion-peso (US $889 million) renovation project undertaken by the state government and GAP to convert the Guadalajara airport into western Mexico’s main air travel hub.
According to newspaper El Economista, the Jalisco state government spent $15 billion pesos (US $837 million) to build the runway, while the remaining investment went toward constructing a new terminal and modernizing the airport infrastructure.
The new runway is 3.5 kilometers long and is a distance of 275 meters away from the other runway, giving the airport the capacity to manage 60 operations per hour, duplicating the number of flights currently operating and further consolidating GDL as a world-class airport.
“The second runway will increase opportunities for growth and boost economic development in the state,” said Xavier Orendaín, Jalisco’s top economic official. “The airport has already announced four new routes and a few more will be announced before the end of the year.”
Orendáin said GAP recently submitted a master plan with recommendations for routing traffic within the vicinity of the airport as well as industrial and logistical developments. This is a necessity since the additional runway will increase cargo flights in and out of Guadalajara, the state capital.
State transportation authorities are also working on new highway plans and loop roads to streamline airport traffic around Guadalajara. Orendaín added that city officials are preparing an executive plan to add a light train route to the airport.
Runway inauguration is culmination of 50 years of negotiations
Airport authorities had long sought to expand its operations, but for years residents of the adjacent El Zapote ejido thwarted their efforts.
The conflict over the land rights date back into the 1970s. It was finally resolved in February 2023 when the Federal Civil Aviation Agency helped negotiate an agreement. GDL acquired 116 hectares of land for an undisclosed amount of money and rezoned the property, allowing the airport to push forward with its expansion project.
In addition to the second runway and the new terminal, airport director Martín Zazueta said the new property will facilitate GDL’s expansion plans, with investments lined up for the next five years. Ongoing construction projects include a new general aviation area which will lead to the construction of a second terminal.
With reports from Milenio and El Economista
