Airports, FBOs Prepping for FIFA World Cup Surge

With cities across North America playing host this year to the latest edition of FIFA’s quadrennial World Cup tournament, airports and FBOs are preparing for what they anticipate to be a surge in private aviation traffic. The sixteen host sites include eleven in the U.S.: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey, San Francisco, and Seattle; three in Mexico: Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey; and two in Canada: Toronto and Vancouver.

Those cities are clearly expecting the games in their venues to be a major aviation tourism draw and are taking steps to accommodate. Earlier this year, officials at Mexico City’s Benito Juárez International Airport (MMMX) launched a massive renovation project, which had passengers threading their way through active demolition zones in a terminal crowded with orange-vested construction workers.

New Facilities to Meet Demand

Among those who had long ago circled the June start of the tournament on the calendar is International Corporate and Cargo Services (ICCS)—Mexico’s largest FBO chain—which celebrated the grand opening of its second FBO (T2) at Toluca International Airport (MMTO) with a gala event in February.

Toluca is the designated business and general aviation gateway to the country’s capital, with all private aircraft directed there as opposed to MMMX, making it Mexico’s busiest business aviation gateway.

Since 2019, ICCS has had an FBO (T1) at Toluca, which is now home to more than 500 jets. In 2022, the company acquired a former Mexican government facility and entirely gutted the 1980s-vintage building, transforming it into a state-of-the-art base.

The three-story, 16,000-sq-ft terminal is sheathed in perforated steel paneling. It features three private passenger lounges; a 12-seat a/v-equipped conference room on the second floor with a glass wall overlooking the ramp; an expansive third floor pilot lounge with two snooze rooms and male and female shower facilities; a café; refreshment bars; a towering streetside porte-cochère; a rooftop garden/observation lounge with bar; concierge service; and a dedicated chauffeur lounge with restroom and pet rest area. It has separate rampside entrances for domestic and international arrivals, with in-house customs, immigration, security, and agriculture screening facilities built to government specifications, and 45 vehicle parking spaces.

ICCS is also launching its own dispatch officer training program under certification of Mexico’s civil aviation authority, with a 24-seat state-of-the-art classroom and flight simulator (a certification requirement) on the third floor, along with tenant offices.

The FBO complex—which is open from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m., with after-hours callout available —is also home to ICCS Gourmet, a fully-equipped, restaurant-quality catering kitchen that provides meals for guests in the terminal café, as well as custom in-flight provisioning for aircraft operators across the entire airport.

The adjoining 25,833-sq-ft (2,400-sq-m) hangar features a 40-foot door height and can shelter the latest ultra-long-range business jets. It brings ICCS to nearly 54,000 sq ft ( 5,000 sq m) of aircraft storage between its two facilities at Toluca, which are separated by approximately 100 yards, and another of the now 11 FBOs on the field.

“Toluca is one of the busiest in North America, and the most important in Mexico,” ICCS CEO Nelson Dumas told AIN, noting the opening ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup and its resulting traffic. “We knew all along that having a strong position [here] was mandatory and really strategic. Well, dreams come true.”

In addition to the two facilities at Toluca, which have 43 staff members between them, ICCS operates FBOs at Chihuahua, Acapulco, Saltillo, and Monterrey, the latter also a World Cup host city.

Along with those preparations at MMMX and MMTO, Universal Aviation also debuted a new FBO at Guadalajara International Airport (MMGL), the city’s first dedicated business aviation facility. The April opening was keyed to ramping up operations for World Cup games in the city.

A Numbers Game

ICCS COO Miguel Ballesteros said his company has received many inquiries about availability at the FBOs for the tournament, and he expects an increase of around 50% to 60% over normal activity, both domestic and international, at host city facilities.

Industry data tracker WingX believes business aviation in North America is set for “one of the most significant demand events in its history” this summer. Compared with surges in the three previous World Cups, WingX noted a consistent pattern of business jet fuel uplift spikes, with host city airports averaging a factor of 1.5, increasing to 1.9x for the quarterfinal matches and 5.2x for the semifinals. “The numbers accelerate sharply as the tournament reaches its climax, peaking at an average surge factor of 12.9x for the final,” WingX analyst Nick Koscinski reported. 

NBAA is advising operators to secure parking reservations with their preferred FBO as soon as possible and to expect possible flow programs, especially as the semifinal and final matches approach.

On game days, pilots should anticipate standard TFRs that encompass a roughly 3-nm radius around the venues, extending from the surface to 3,000 feet. The TFRs will usually last from around an hour before to about an hour after the game, and flights transiting the airspace must be in contact with ATC and squawking their assigned code. Anyone expecting to operate in the area of a host city, whether traveling for the tournament or not, should keep abreast of the latest notams.

After each match, departing aircraft are likely to encounter delays as traffic filters out of each area that evening, through the next morning.

To Fee or Not to Fee

As has become commonplace, many FBOs in the host city areas will be instituting special event fees for the tournament, with the major chains publishing their extra fee schedules on their websites. Among them will be Global Select, the municipally-owned FBO at Houston-area Sugar Land Regional Airport (KSGR), which will be instituting special event fees for the very first time.

MJ Barroso, the FBO’s customer experience manager, was a customer service representative at the FBO back in 2017 when Houston hosted the Super Bowl and recalls the level of preparation that went into that one-day event. “Today we are looking to plan a 20-day event, with seven games in between,” she told AIN. “So for us, it would be seven Super Bowls in the span of 20 days.”

Being a city-owned entity, the airport had to begin planning and budgeting for the tournament a year ago in step with the city’s budget cycle. Among the concerns for an airport that had never charged a special event fee was how much to charge. “That's the logistical side of things that I think as an airport, we really have to consider,” Barroso explained. “That's going to include manpower, hours, equipment, maybe we do need to rent more stuff in order for us to be successful and be able to move these planes in and out.” The airport bought more equipment, including a 5,000-gallon jet-A refueler (bringing it to five), a new Lektro tug, a lavatory cart, another GPU, an additional ice maker, and an electric food warmer to feed workers, volunteers, and aircraft crews. A walk-in catering refrigerator was rented, and a contingency was included in the budget to rent up to three additional refuelers if necessary.

 All these factors turned the special event fee structure into a balancing act. “You don't want to overprice, where you don't get anybody to come into your airport, and you most certainly don't want to not charge anything, because you end up needing money on the table,” said Barroso.

In doing her research, Barroso spoke with two of the major fractional fleet operators and learned that they do not plan to park their aircraft overnight at KSGR during the tournament. “I think that brought a really big perspective to us, knowing we're not just going to have planes park, they're going to be constantly moving,” she noted.  “So again, we go back to the operational side. How quick are we fueling them? Where are we going to fuel them?” The FBO’s operational division came up with a reservation plan to assign its limited parking, ensure those large fleet operators have their space, and cause no interruptions to the airport’s operation.

Yet, Barroso noted there was no early rush for reservation slots. “The one thing that I've learned is those that fly private do so because they have money,” she said. “We have to keep in mind that those that we serve here, our customers, are people that can literally call a charter company and say, 'Hey, I want to go to the game today,' and the company will make it happen.”

While Global Select struggled with how much to charge for its special event fees, another service provider took an opposite course. Clay Lacy Aviation, with FBOs in California and Connecticut, announced it was not going to enact any special event surcharges during the tournament. With FBOs serving the host city of Los Angeles—Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) and John Wayne Airport (KSNA)—and at Waterbury-Oxford Airport (KOXC) in Connecticut, with proximity to FIFA games in New York and Boston, the company stated that it does not anticipate any logistical strain at those locations, aside from possibly the final match on July 19 outside of New York City.