On the new Aeropuerto Internacional Ciudad de Mexico AICM

Absolutely inspired by the official’s video project of the new AICM, I remembered the project’s magnitudes of Adolfo Suarez-Madrid Barajas Terminal 4 and Terminal 4S building (opened in 2006) this is one of the projects that if you are lucky to be part of, as I was in MAD airport. You’ll be absolutely sure that your little humble contribution will be one of the highest milestone of your career. This is the opportunity for creating new ways of air transportation rules supported with new technologies and passenger-centered experience focus.

New AICM projected for 2018. Image Credit Foster+Partners www.fosterandpartners.com

The measures

Foster + Partners, FR-EE (Fernando Romero Enterprise) and NACO (Netherlands Airport Consultants) has won the international competition to design Mexico City’s new international airport. It will have 555.000 square metres, it will be one of the world’s largest airports, starting with a single terminal, X-shaped as Mexico central letter, and 4 runways, prepared to have up to 6 runways. The opening is scheduled for 2018, when it will have capacity for 30 millions of passengers.

New AICM Terminal projected for 2018. Image Credit Foster+Partners www.fosterandpartners.com

Will it be new technologies supporting and disrupting the previous state-of-the-art techs?

Related to IT issues, the architect says that all the services and pipeline will be under the terminal floor. The design and deployment of a wide IP network with this terminal shape is really a challenging project, the datacenters and systems that will operate and support all the airport processes should be aligned with the new design and a new way of airport’s operations. It should have three key objectives:

Satisfy the Passenger Experience, when will we have the good feeling of the airport experience? I’m not talking about shopping, I’m talking about the experience of fly and travel, no matter business or tourism, it is a paradox that one of the great enablers of the XX and XXI economic booster, aviation, it came one of the pains and stressful experience of any trip.
Set the roots of a real open data information for delivering inside and outside services that could be benefit all the society. There is always good words about the “social compromise” with the airport’s surroundings, the urban development, etc. Let’s include the new digital and disruptive society’s layer, which are changing the way we are structuring, give the opportunity of integrate information with open APIs. The society will find new ways of interaction with the airport and the airport itself should be benefit of it.
The airport as a Hub-Spoke data enabling the its main stakeholders operations (airlines, retail, public transportation, ATC, AOC, etc) and outside stakeholders as other networks airports, ATM/NMOC, Meteo, etc., etc. Projects as SESAR, NextGen, new XML languages as FIXM, AIXM, Digital NOTAMs, A-CDM, e-Everything, IATA’s PaxEx works, etc. should have an eye in this new airport as an inspiration and test some of their concepts, products and services in their long life they are facing.