After a long approach from the north over farms and industrial structures, we touched down on one of the three runways at Aeropuerto Internacional Felipe Ángeles (AIFA), my first day of flying had finished. But for me, there was much more to explore before the day was done. After all, for years, México had planned a giant new airport at Texcoco to replace the existing, overcrowded, primary airport in Mexico City. But when Andrés Manuel López Obrador rose to power in the country, he quickly shut off that project and instead opted to repurpose part of a military base — now AIFA — to fill the role. Could AIFA live up to the hype? In some ways, yes… but only in some ways.

• Introduction to Cranky’s Mexican Adventure
• Cross Border Express is Great, But It Can Be Tricky
• Viva Kicks the Trip Off the Right Way
• Mexicana is Weird, But the E2 is a Delight
• The Spectacular But Distant AIFA Airport
• Mexico City is More Than Worth the Visit
• Aeromexico Does It Right in the Air but Not on the Ground
• Señor Air Has the Best Name and an Experience to Match
• Los Cabos and La Paz Couldn’t Be More Different
• TAR Was a Wild Ride
• Volaris, the Purest ULCC

After a short taxi, we rolled into our gate at AIFA. The terminal is a large building with gates in a straight line. Excluding ground boarding and bus gate possibilities, there are 14 real gates with most on one side and only three of them on the opposite side of the building.

Getting off the aircraft, I stayed on the first level and walked through a long corridor to get to baggage claim and beyond. It was extremely empty that evening.

Departures, however, board from the third level, so I couldn’t really get a full sense of how many people were traveling outbound thanks to the way they route traffic.

My first impression was that this was a building that was far nicer than I expected. It had a ton of natural light from the gates, but even the interior areas like baggage claim were bright and functional.

After baggage claim, there is a long hallway with several taxi operators that I brushed past. (Consider this foreshadowing….) In no time, I was out in the main hallway on the arrivals level.

I did take the escalator up to the second level so I could see the ticketing area, and it was really a beautiful space.

Outside, there is a plaza the separates the terminal from a large parking structure that is currently way-underutilized. There’s also a hotel around there.

The terminal experience was fantastic. There is no other way to put it. I loved this airport so far, but then… I tried to leave it.

I went into the Uber app to request a car, and it asked if I wanted it at the terminal or at Glorieta Militar which is a stop on the northeast side of the airport. I obviously wanted the terminal, but I wasn’t getting a match. So I walked back inside and asked at the info counter what to do.

At this point, the friendly staffer should have told me to just take a cab, but instead, she told me that Uber doesn’t come to the terminal so I just need to take a short bus to Glorieta Militar where I could pick up Uber. Ok.

I walked outside, and it was only about 100 yards before I passed the new Tren Suburbano which will be opening this year and will go straight to the Buenavista station in Mexico City. This would have made all the difference, but it has been delayed, and it wasn’t an option this time.

I kept walking until I found the stop for Mexibús on the far side of the garage. Here, I had to buy a card to pay for the bus. Little did I know that this card only works in the state of México. I learned this the hard way the next morning when I tried to use it in Mexico City — which is not the state — and it didn’t do anything.

I boarded the crowded bus, and it must have been about 20 minutes with multiple stops and several jarring speed bumps before arriving at Glorieta Militar. There was a roundabout attached to a highway where I hailed my Uber. The Uber driver told me once I got in the car that I had to pay the MXN 69 (~$4) toll to get into town. That didn’t sound right to me, but then he said if I showed my boarding pass, they would waive it.

We got to the tollbooth and my boarding pass didn’t work. They said they needed a QR code. I fished that out of my phone while the horns behind me were rapidly firing. I showed it, and… it didn’t work again. They made me pay the toll. Luckily I had just taken out some cash.

After doing research, Uber said you should never have to pay your own toll. I filed a complaint, and they promptly did absolutely nothing about it.

In the end, it took me a couple hours to get into town, more than an hour in the Uber alone. It would have been quicker but certainly more expensive if I had just taken a taxi… and it would have been worth every penny. I could also have taken the Vivabus into town which I thought was only for passengers flying Viva, but I was wrong. Either way, it’s more than an hour drive-time alone if you don’t make any stops. This airport is far away from everything.

I’m hopeful that the Tren Suburbano will make things much better for everyone when it opens this year, shaving the trip down to 43 minutes to Buenavista station, but I will reserve judgment on that for now. Instead, I’ll just say that while AIFA has a great terminal, I wouldn’t use it again without that huge improvement in connectivity into town.

It was a very long evening, but finally, I was in Mexico City for a few days of exploration.