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Mexico City International Airport, More than Just an Airport

Can an airport be a destination, too?

By Joel Chusid

As a road warrior who has spent far too many hours in airports, I was not looking forward to departing from Mexico City on a busy Thursday morning. The airport gets bad press for being crowded, and confusing, yet my arrival on the preceding Saturday had been surprisingly easy, with virtually no lines at immigration, fast baggage delivery, and an organized way to prepay and take a taxi into town. As it was a weekend, the legendary chaotic traffic was light, and the ride took only half an hour with a friendly taxi driver who gave me plenty of advice about the city. The usually hazy skies were amazingly clear, with the surrounding mountains and volcanoes visible.

Having been brought back to reality the following Monday morning with an exasperating one hour ride in bumper to bumper traffic from my hotel at one end of Reforma to the other, something that should have taken maybe ten minutes, I decided to leave early to beat the traffic and deal with the expected security lines and departure formalities at the airport in the second largest urban area in the world, with 20 million residents. (Only Tokyo is larger.) Instead, again I was surprised with a quick ride, against traffic, and a check-in on American Airlines that took less than five minutes. Like departing from a U.S. airport to an international point, Mexico has no outbound immigration formalities. The airline takes your tourist card, and other than security, there are no other lines. The security lines, in fact, on that busy Thursday morning, were non-existent, as there were multiple entry points. So that’s how I found myself at this supposedly chaotic, horrible airport with almost three extra hours on my hands.

Chaotic and horrible? By no means. Confusing, maybe, because of the size and design.  But the truth is I found this airport is a gem for exploring, with one of the most diverse group of shops, bars and restaurants, and other surprises not ordinarily found in others. There is an expansion underway, and an exposition in the center of the terminal features pictures and flat TV screens showing pictures of the second terminal under construction. You can walk over a model of the new airport facilities on a Plexiglas floor.

The current building contains all airlines, with domestic flights at one end, the rest international. It is amazingly elongated, unfortunately a negative feature, but one can certainly get plenty of exercise by walking. The floors are marble, and there are plenty of escalators and elevators between the two levels, the second of which houses several banks, with signs indicating that more are coming. In fact, I counted no less than 2 dozen banks or casas de cambio, all with clearly posted, and competitive, exchange rates, and I would not be surprised if there were closer to fifty.

A Camino Real Hotel is connected directly to the terminal for a walkway, in case you decide to, or are forced to, extend your stay overnight at the airport. Somehow I recall this being a Marriott in a previous life.  There’s apparently also a Hilton above the international area, but it was not visible to me, and in researching it later, I discovered it was quite negatively reviewed on online hotel discussion sites. Or, if you don’t need a hotel, there are several locations where you can check your bags for up to 24 hours in lockers for 60 pesos (about $5).

There’s also a post office (location A23) that even sells color postcards, more than one location that will send packages, and a score of kiosks that sell lottery tickets. The airport has dozens of newsstands, some with extensive selections of magazines, paperbacks. The U.S. edition of USA Today was available at 8am (for 400 pesos, or $3!) There are several travel agencies, and one, Mundo Joven (E22) serves youthful travelers, and represents Hostelling International-Mexico, and also sells travel gear.

The Mexico City Airport is a shopper’s paradise, even before the duty free zone beyond security. There’s almost no need to head downtown to look for souvenirs. Dozens of shops and kiosks sell everything from huge embroidered sombreros and silver to high quality clothing, shoes, music, and jewelry.

Probably one of the most unique and interesting stores is Amada Designs (store number A29, phone 2599-0210) where decorative accessories made from seeds and natural objects form a striking display. It’s a tiny store, and according to the saleswoman, the only one. The beautiful and colorful items include fruits, plants in pots, and colorful balls, which are reportedly exhibited at international gift and furniture shows in Mexico, as well as New York and Paris. Prices start at a mere 70 pesos ($6) for small balls, and fruits, and go up to 1,300 pesos ($110) for large watermelon slices.

Mexico City’s Museum of Anthropology is world famous, and the airport boasts a museum store (location A41) where books and reproductions can be viewed and bought. Libros y Arte (A137) features a wide variety of beautiful art books. There’s also a Mexican map store (A117), a store featuring Mexican soccer shirts (A101), and one for airplane and airline buffs (A61) with stickers, models, pins, and flight jackets.

Ferrioni, a branch of a well known Mexican clothing line, has attractive, colorful cotton button down shirts, trousers, and accessories. Campanita (A185) has high quality baby clothes, and you can pick up the latest in Latin CD’s at the music shop (A183).

For shoes (who buys shoes at an airport? I suppose I’m guilty), the Mexican chain Michel Domit has a branch (A187) with great loafers as well as other leather goods. And the Georgie Boy store (A149) has a selection of colorful shoes for children from Spain, as well as unique and comfortable Mexican-made shoes for men and women at reasonable prices.

You can shop for women’s’ clothing at Edouardo (E06), unusual handbags (A179), and T-shirts and surfer shorts (A189), buy things to benefit UNICEF at their kiosk, or peruse jewelry and silver at any of dozens of shops. Plateria “La Brujita” (A121, C-9) is but one, with beautiful necklaces, bracelets, and wall decorations.  Get your Ray-Bans at their store (A165). The ubiquitous Bijoux Terner stores (I’ve seen them in the U.S.), of which there are at least four in the terminal, sell everything in the store, including jewelry, handbags, and watches at one price: 150 pesos ($13). Pick up stuffed animals for children in several places; the store at A13 had a nice selection, fragrances at Perfumissimo (A31), although you might be tempted to defer this to duty free.

For those so inclined, Cuban cigars can be had in several tobacco stores, although you take your chances with U.S. Customs with those. All kinds of tequila, mescal, and other Mexican liquors are available in any of a score of shops.  The liquor stores at A111, A169, and A191 had large selections. If you’re outbound, you might want to hold back and, again, take your chances at duty free. The selection there is equally huge, especially for tequila. Several pharmacies sell over the counter medicines, and some that require a prescription elsewhere, but not in Mexico. There is even a supermarket, plus several “mini markets.”

The array of restaurants and bars is mind boggling. There is everything from Japanese sushi to Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Cuban, and of course, Mexican. There are dozens of fast food places and a variety of sit down restaurants, all comfortable and inviting. I am convinced that there is undoubtedly more tequila in this airport than at any other in the world.

Fast food lovers will be at home. There’s a food court, but restaurants are found throughout the terminal. Selection includes familiar names like Burger King, McDonalds, Dunkin’ Donuts, Taco Inn, Cinnabon, Mrs. Fields’ Cookies, Subway, Dominos Pizza, and Hagen Dazs, but there are other less familiar eateries like Tortas Locas, Teriyaki San, Dantai Sushi, Dino Snack Bar, Cajun Grill, Hong Yong Chinese, and the Anachera House.

In addition to various coffee bars like Coffee Land and The Coffee Factory, I counted three Starbucks in the terminal, plus another one past security. Surprisingly, they also offer some healthy alternatives such as whole grain muffins and pastries, and yes, they even have Frappucino.  A rather historic looking coffee bar in area A, El Globo, had a sign that indicated it was founded in 1884, and offered appetizing sandwiches and pastries. Natural Break, a healthy foods café, was in several locations, including the area past security.

For sit down fare, there’s a Mexican Cantina Restaurant, one level up; on the main level, one finds Tendido O, a reddish Spanish restaurant with a huge tequila bar, that probably is pretty lively in the evening; Flaps Restaurant & Bar has a model airplane hanging from the ceiling; Henry J. Beans Bar & Grill looks like a typical American casual restaurant; Italiannis, as it sounds, is an Italian chain restaurant; Wings appeared to be a large casual dining establishment; La Pausa was a large restaurant combined with a store like the ubiquitous Sanborns one encounters in Mexico; the Freedom Restaurant & Bar looked very “beachy.”

My favorite find was Bonguitos Cuban Café, which features a row of colorful bongo drums and a Cuban menu and. It is owned by Gloria and Emilio Estefan, and had opened in December 2005, and a second was planned for the Puerto Vallarta Airport. I was only sorry that it was mid morning when I found it, and I didn’t have time to sample something. In fact, I was running late for my flight at this time, and had to trot down to security, only to be pleasantly surprised at the lack of a line.

Once in the gate area, both shopping and eating options are equally diverse. There are the usual duty free stores, plus individual stores or extensive departments for Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Burberry, Hermes, Dior, Bulgari, H. Stern, and Eremegildo Zegna. There’s a Jose Cuervo store devoted to, of course, tequila.  A bottle of particularly unusual tequila in another store was priced at $870, that’s dollars, not pesos!

No doubt the airport has its bad days, such as when fog causes delays and cancellations, or when holiday crowds strain the facilities. Traveling by air anywhere in the world these days is no longer glamorous or even exciting for road warriors. In fact, most people will agree it’s quite the opposite.  But my experience that morning in Mexico City Airport was refreshing, and unexpected. I was able to play tourist within an airport for a few hours, and make some rewarding discoveries.  That made all the difference in the world, and it certainly left me with a positive impression about the airport serving the largest city in the Western Hemisphere.

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