Settlers ask ICAO for help for airspace redesign

Inhabitants of several colonies located to the west of Mexico City are asking the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for their opinion on the redesign of the airspace in the Metropolitan Area of ​​the Valley of Mexico, as they consider that They did not take into account the inhabitants of this area now affected by the noise of the planes.

The Colonos de La Herradura Association in Huixquilucan, State of Mexico is part of the group of residents who request help from ICAO, through the change.org platform.

In an interview, Gricha Graether, president of the La Herradura Settlers Association, said that ICAO is responsible for analyzing, supporting and certifying the air authorities of various countries and, as an independent entity, could help ensure that The routes are correctly designed both in terms of safety and health effects for the people who live under them.

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On March 25, the new airspace design in Mexico City was put into operation to combine flights between the Mexico City International Airport and the Toluca airports and soon the Felipe Ángeles International Airport in Santa Lucía, which it implied a change of routes for the landing and take off of the airplanes.

This caused that 1.2 million inhabitants were affected by the noise of the passage of the airplanes.

Graether commented that in Huixquilucan, being located in a higher place than the downtown area, it makes the approach of the planes closer and the noise louder.

1.2 million people they are affected by the new redesign of the airspace of the ZMVM.

“(The planes) are passing between 400 and 500 meters when it is recommended at 1,200 meters, it is a significant difference,” he said.

Settlers from San Ángel, La Herradura, Las Águilas and Huixquilucan filed several appeals to reverse the redesign of the airspace and requested that the Federal Aviation Agency and the Ministry of Communications and Transportation make known the environmental impact study of this change of routes.

A provisional suspension of the redesign was achieved via an amparo, but later all the amparos were concentrated in the Fifth District Court for Administrative Matters of Mexico City, which revoked the provisional suspensions granted by some judges.

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The settlers bought specialized professional equipment to measure the noise of the passage of the airplanes and they assure that they exceed 45 decibels by day and 40 decibels at night that the World Health Organization recommends for noise coming from airplanes.

Exposure to these noises, Graether added, has already caused nervousness and anxiety among older adults and is affecting children’s academic performance now that they are taking classes from home.

Safety

The president of the La Herradura Colonos Association stressed that beyond the noise, what they want to ensure is that the new route design is safe, since there has already been an incident between two planes.

“Despite expert warnings from the air traffic control union that the routes are not well done. The studies should be done more in the context of what happened on Line 12 of the Metro.

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“It is not the same, but it is very serious. We already know of episodes reported by the same controllers of these routes of near misses and thousands of people live under these planes, that is worrying, “he said.

On March 26, a day after the airspace redesign came into operation, a Viva Aerobus plane that was on the Mexico City-Oaxaca route approached a thousand feet during its ascent to a private jet, so it was activated the traffic alert and collision avoidance system.

The settlers insist on a return to the previous design of routes and that the analysis of safety, noise and impact on the population be done well with the participation of the residents of the affected neighborhoods.

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Or, schedule exceptions are made on the amount of air traffic that may be at night, as well as rotating routes so that the same inhabitants are not always affected.