New building at Tijuana airport eases travel for CBX sky-bridge passengers

TIJUANA — 

Tijuana’s intercontinental airport opened a new 430,000-sq.-foot building this week to aid journey for countless numbers of travellers who use the Cross Border Xpress sky bridge every day.

The new processing facility adds more southbound screening strains for Immigration and Customs in Mexico. It will also add nearly 40 check-in counters and two new boarding gates.

The opening of the two-story building Monday stems from a passenger progress at the Tijuana airport and Cross Border Xpress, or CBX. Each have noted a significant financial recovery right after the top of the pandemic.

In 2021, CBX welcomed above 2.7 million passengers, a 64 per cent raise in contrast to 2020. Tijuana Airport ended 2021 with a record 9.7 million travellers.

In the initial four months of 2022, both equally have found an improve compared to the exact same time period very last yr. Based on these figures, CBX estimates it will conclusion 2022 with almost 4 million passengers, although the Tijuana airport estimates yet another file calendar year with 11 million passengers.

“The economic affect that California and Baja California have is a element that strengthens the airport’s expansion and progress,” stated Eduardo González, supervisor of Tijuana Global Airport. “It is an ingredient that contributes to the potential and demand from customers of travelers.”

Around 30 per cent of passengers arriving at the Tijuana airport use the cross-border bridge.

The $100 million venture is the major not only in the historical past of the Tijuana airport, but of the 12 airports in Mexico that are operated by Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, González claimed.

With the opening of the new building, the Tijuana airport virtually doubled in dimensions. González said the new developing will fulfill the demand from customers of vacationers anticipated by 2034.
It is believed that by that calendar year far more than 17 million passengers will transit via the Tijuana airport.

The concept with this modernization and enlargement is to bring in international flights once more. In the previous, the Tijuana airport experienced flights to Beijing, Shanghai (China) and Narita (Japan). “We want them to arrive back again, but we are (also) completely ready to get planes from any place else.”

Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila mentioned she is doing work with Mexico’s Ministry of Tourism to satisfy that goal. “(This facility) opens the door to the environment for Tijuana to get countless numbers of each day site visitors, but also to be able to obtain worldwide flights to our beloved Tijuana,” she claimed.

Ávila attended the opening ceremony together with other binational leaders, this sort of as Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero and U.S. Customs and Border Defense Director of Area Functions Sidney Aki, among the some others.

The next phase of the task incorporates the expansion of the northbound region at the Tijuana airport. Building is predicted to be finished inside the following number of months.

The new setting up in Tijuana connects instantly to the CBX terminal in Otay Mesa. Vacationers with boarding passes can cross to either the airport on the Mexico aspect or the terminal on the U.S. aspect.

Jorge Goytortúa, govt director of CBX, said the new constructing “will remodel our traveler’s knowledge.”

CBX recently expanded from four to 8 double inspection booths for a complete of 16 lines offered to course of action passengers arriving from the Tijuana airport.

Goytortúa claimed the expansion, along with the incorporation of new technology, has manufactured it doable to speed up passenger processing.

It is up to U.S. Customs and Border Safety to decide how many U.S. officers are assigned to the northbound border crossing. Goytortúa stated much more brokers have been asked for. “We are working with the authorities,” he stated.

He estimated that, on average, the wait around time to cross from Mexico into the U.S. at CBX during off-peak hours is about 24 minutes. The purpose is to cut down the hold out to 15 minutes, he reported.

The San Diego Association of Governments regional prepare features a proposal to also hook up the CBX terminal to the San Diego International Airport by subway.

Hasan Ikhrata, CEO of SANDAG, stated the company expects to begin the environmental stage quickly. In the finest-case scenario, the venture could be a actuality in five decades, he reported.