Monterrey, Mexico | Typology: Airports | Year: 2019 | Area: 230,000 m2
What would the ideal airport look like for the second most important city in Mexico? Just a year ago, the city of Monterrey became the second most populous city in Mexico. Due to historical and cultural issues, the citizens of this metropolis are always seeking to grow and be the best at what they do. Proof of this is that Monterrey just built the tallest skyscraper in Latin America, it also has the richest municipality on the sub-continent and is considered the most important industrial center in the country. However, this growth does not come without costs. The city has grown so much that it has become the 16th largest city in the world in terms of territorial extension. That is why the city is undergoing an architectural and urban transformation, so that it can become what it is destined to be: a global city, of international hierarchy and recognized as one of the most attractive metropolises to live in the American continent. Thanks to all the above, Monterrey urgently needs the construction of a new international airport hub, which allows it to maintain its economic growth, attract more tourists and investors to the region, and become the new air connection center that finally relieves Mexico City International Airport and its currently saturated facilities. At AGUSTIN AND ARCHITECTS, we designed this airport as a utopian proposal for those who like to dream of a better world like us.
"Monterrey urgently needed a new, renovated air terminal prepared for the city's exponential growth, especially thanks to Nearshoring. This new terminal would turn Monterrey's airport into a worthy gateway for the city's level of development. Thanks to this new terminal, the airport could become a global rank airport HUB."
Agustín González explains the relevance of building a new airport for the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey, Nuevo León.
The new International Airport of Monterrey, a first world airport for a highly developed state
Gallery of images
An airport at the level of the city of Monterrey
Let's be honest, in Mexico we're tired of airports that seem like bus stations. That's why, listening to the desires of the people of Monterrey, we have designed a new world-class airport terminal for Monterrey. We have been fortunate enough to travel around the world and know what it takes to create a good terminal. From London Heathrow T5 to the longest terminal in the world in Dubai DBX, we have studied first-hand the most important airports in the world to know what a functional, efficient, and attractive airport for tourists should include. Throughout this page, you'll discover why the New Monterrey Airport should be designed as proposed here.
An interconnected terminal
The terminal has 40 direct contact positions and allows for an interconnected terminal with Terminal B. This will enable the airport to handle many more flights and even eliminate the need for using Terminal C, ensuring that all passengers visiting Monterrey enjoy a world-class experience.
More efficient passenger flows
All the boarding gates have a tunnel that leads directly to the waiting areas and another tunnel that leads directly to the disembarkation and customs level. This is essential for the efficiency of an airport, as it makes it much faster and easier for passengers to board and disembark. However, the most important feature of this system is that it allows more space to be freed up at the waiting area level, avoiding unnecessary and costly ramps and escalators inside the terminal. Likewise, it improves the user experience as passengers and children can directly enjoy the best views of the planes approaching the window, something that would be impossible without this system. Finally, in airports where this system is not implemented, people tend to crowd and bump into other passengers as they walk inside the terminal, as space is wasted on unproductive internal ramps and stairs, something we cannot allow in a post-pandemic era.
Limitless capacities
The terminal is prepared to receive large-scale aircraft, from the new Airbus A350 and Boeing 787, to longer aircraft such as the Boeing 777, 747, and the Airbus A380. Likewise, this terminal allows for the placement of up to 2 tunnels for these large-scale planes. This is essential to be able to create an International HUB, as it will allow for the reception of the long-range aircraft most commonly used by European, Asian, and South American airlines.
"The Monterrey Dream is now a reality. On one of our recent trips to Asia, we discovered that in a group of 30 Spanish-speaking travelers, a third were passengers from Monterrey alone. Comparing these numbers with the amount of Spanish-speaking countries in the world, it should not surprise us that Asian airlines may start showing interest in Monterrey in the near future. It would be a shame if we cannot receive their flights due to a newly built terminal that is not ready for this type of aircraft."
Agustín González about his vision for the new airport of Monterrey and the importance that this new terminal would have for the citizens of the region.
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
In June of 2023, just a couple of years after we presented this vision for the Monterrey airport, the president of Turkish Airlines expressed his interest at one of the most important global aviation conferences to start a new direct route between Istanbul and Monterrey, connecting the Middle East with Northern Mexico for the first time. In addition, Aeromexico announced a direct flight between Monterrey and Madrid, which has been operating for over a year and has been so successful that the airline decided to increase the weekly frequencies. Adding to these two highly relevant international routes are the new direct flights announced to Toronto by Air Canada, flights to Las Vegas by Spirit and Frontier, and multiple new routes to more destinations such as Austin, New York, Los Angeles, Bogota, Punta Cana, Aguascalientes, Puerto Escondido, Phoenix, Denver, San Luis Potosi, and Detroit. All these new routes were generated or increased in just the last two years, demonstrating that the vision of an international hub is being fulfilled.
A terminal that is ready for the new era of interconnected citizens of the government of Nuevo León
The arrivals and departures area of the terminal is designed to allow access to the city's public transportation. In this way, the terminal is prepared for the new interconnected city stage planned by the state government.
The new welcoming door of Monterrey
The Check-In area is designed so that people can easily access their airline's modules, reducing the transfer times that the old documentation system along an extensive terminal entails. This also reduces the cost of constructing an elongated terminal. Likewise, suitcases are automatically transported by the conveyor belts into the terminal's interior system, making it a first-world airport in terms of electronic documentation. Again, an important system for the new post-pandemic era. According to some studies, a third of flight delays are caused by inefficient airport and airline systems, something we aim to reduce with these advanced systems. Finally, the security checkpoint area is much more interactive and is designed to be user-friendly and accessible, reducing the stress that these spaces usually imply for users.
Thank you for joining us for another entry of AGUSTIN AND ARCHITECTS! We hope you enjoyed this tour. Subscribe to our Newsletter to stay informed about the upcoming projects that our design studio will be presenting.
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