Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez (MEX)
Tel: (55) 571 3600 or 3007.
Website: www.aeropuertosmexico.com/ingles

Mexico City's only passenger airport is situated six kilometres (3.75 miles) east of the Centro Histórico. It handles some 19 million passengers each year but has been unable to cope with the increase in passenger numbers that has accompanied the burgeoning population of the city. Travellers are greeted by a chaotic arrivals' hall with randomly changing queues, late luggage at overcrowded poorly marked carousels and little signage. Departures are a little better but the increased security of recent years has added to the queues and general confusion.

Airport facilities: These include casa de cambios (bureaux de change), ATMs (Bancomer, Bital and Banamex), travel agents, tourist information, bars, restaurants, 24-hour luggage lockers, a telecommunications office, long-distance telephones and a wide range of duty-free and other shops. Car hire is available from Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, Thrifty and Auto Rent.

Transport to the city: Fixed-price Transportación Terrestre taxis offer by far the safest and most efficient transport into the city centre. Tickets are bought from booths at exits A, E and F; be sure to by tickets from the official booth and ensure that the taxi you are getting into is registered. Unlicensed taxis in Mexico City rightly have a bad reputation and there are many scams targeting tourists around airports and bus stations (see Getting Around – Taxis).

There are no direct buses into the city centre. A trolley bus can be taken to Calzada Ignacio Zaragoza and then a bus into the city. This journey takes at least one hour, often much longer, depending on the time of day.

There is a metro station, Terminal Aérea, near the exit at the end of hall A but officially luggage is not allowed on the metro.