Acapulco’s international airport has partially reopened for flights that transport aid and to allow stranded travelers to leave the area.
Airlines Aeromexico, Viva Aerobus and Volaris started flights from Mexico City Friday, bringing doctors, food and officials into the area while taking passengers out, said Ricardo Duenas, chief executive officer of Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte SAB (OMA), in a telephone interview. Flights will continue over the course of the day but are restricted to daylight hours due to damage to the airport’s control tower, he added.
“The first step is to safely get out the passengers who require it. Once finished, we will focus on reestablishing normal operations to later also focus on the reconstruction and restoration of the terminal,” he said. It’s too early to predict when commercial operations will be able to resume, Duenas added.
Hurricane Otis tore into historic beach town Acapulco early Wednesday, with 27 deaths and four missing reported so far. The economic damages are estimated to be as much as $15 billion. Losses could rise because the region’s high season for tourism is December to March.
Tourists leaving in the humanitarian flights were bussed to the airport from two sites in the city, one along the iconic bay near a major mall and the other among the higher-end hotels on the so-called Diamond Coast. They were asked to bring only carry-on bags.
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OMA has been one of three airport operator groups that were affected by an announcement earlier this month that the government was changing their concession fees as it seeks to lower passenger air fares. Company shares sank earlier by as much as 9.4% amid uncertainty on regulatory risk, even as the company posted third quarter results in-line with analyst estimates.
“The results were very good,” Duenas said. “We have already reached an agreement with the authorities on the regulatory side.”
The Acapulco airport represents less than 4% of OMA’s traffic, he added. The company will hold its 3Q call with analysts Oct. 30 at 10am local time.