Named after the 19th century president Benito Juarez, the Mexico City International Airport is Mexico’s busiest. It is situated five kilometres to the east of Mexico City’s downtown area within the neighbourhood of Peñón de los Baños but is scheduled to be replaced by a new airport to the north-west in the coming years.
There are two separate terminals at Mexico City’s Benito Juarez International Airport, including Terminal 1 which first opened in 1958 and is currently the largest airport terminal in the Americas, and the newly built Terminal 2 which is the main hub for Aeroméxico. The airport currently services more than 50 domestic destinations, and about the same number of international destinations across Latin America, North America, Europe and Asia. It is an important hub for United and American Airlines, as well as Lufthansa and Air France on transAtlantic routes, with Aeroméxico, Interjet, Volaris and Aeromar the main carriers on domestic and Latin American services. There are plenty of restaurants and cafes throughout both terminal buildings, together with duty-free shops, designer boutiques and currency exchange facilities. There is also a hotel located onsite at the airport, in addition to numerous airline lounges, including Aeroméxico’s Salon Premier Lounge in Terminal 2.
The airport is connected to Mexico City’s Subway Line 5 from the Aérea Metro station, while trolley buses also depart from here to nearby Boulevard Puerto Aéreo station on Subway Line 1. Buses frequently connect to destinations across the city, together with direct regional services to surrounding cities.
The first aeroplane to fly in Latin America departed from what was then Llanos de Balbuena in 1910 before an airport officially opened in 1915 as the Balbuena Military Airport. The first commercial flights began here in 1928, with the first international route to Los Angeles International Airport 15 years later.