Mexico says lower airport service fees will help reduce airfares

Mexico’s government said changing the fee structure under which the country’s privately-run airports operate will reduce service costs and help drive down the price of airline tickets. 

In the first public comments after unilaterally restructuring the way operators charge services last week, the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the new rules aim to “reduce the costs of airport services that impact the cost of airfares, to the benefit of users.”

“The measure, to be acted on immediately, is of public interest and seeks to reduce the cost of regulated airport services,” according to a statement from Mexico’s Transportation and Communications Ministry late Monday.

The release didn’t provide details of the magnitude of the fee reduction.

The decision by the Lopez Obrador administration last week to change the fee structure sent stocks tumbling and added pressure to the peso, with shares of the publicly-traded airport operators falling as much as 44% on Thursday before recovering part of the losses.

In Monday’s statement, the ministry said it met with representatives of the operators to study the new structure governing airport service costs. It has taken into consideration proposals from operators Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste SAB, Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB and Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte SAB, it said.

The government also said it seeks to guarantee the quality of airport services and offer certainty to airport concessions.