OMA’s August 2007 total passenger traffic increases 27.1%
- Domestic traffic jumps 32.8%
Monterrey, Mexico, September 10, 2007—Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, S.A.B. de C.V., known as OMA, reports that total passenger traffic (terminal passengers) at its 13 airports reached 1.3 million in August 2007, an increase of 27.1% compared to August 2006, driven by a 32.8% increase in domestic traffic. The airports with the most significant increases in terms of passenger traffic were Monterrey (+141,386), Culiacán (+30,102), Chihuahua (+24,688), Ciudad Juárez (+22,512) and Mazatlán (+19,048).
Domestic traffic in August 2007 totaled 1,105,967 passengers, an increase of 32.8% compared to the prior year. Twelve of our airports reported growth in domestic passenger traffic as a result of new routes and frequencies opened by the new airlines (Aladia, Alma, Avolar, Interjet, VivaAerobus, and Volaris) and the performance of some traditional airlines. The suspension of operations of Líneas Aéreas Azteca on March 26, 2007 affected traffic at the Zacatecas airport.
International traffic totaled 183,420 passengers in August 2007, a 0.9% increase compared to August 2006. The Mazatlán, Monterrey, Torreón, and Chihuahua airports recorded the most significant increases. The decrease in the frequency of some routes operated by scheduled international airlines affected international traffic at the airports at Acapulco, Durango, Zihuatanejo, Culiacán, and Tampico.
By airport
Monterrey, OMA’s principal airport, served 613,301 passengers in August 2007, an increase of 30.0% compared to the same month of 2006. Domestic traffic at Monterrey airport increased 35.9%, principally as a result of the performance of VivaAerobus. International traffic rose 1.9%.
Based on traffic for the first eight months of 2007, the Culiacán airport has now become OMA’s second busiest airport, with 749,501 passengers through August. The recovery in passenger traffic by Aerocalifornia and the entry of new domestic operators (VivaAerobus, Volaris, and Avolar) has benefited Culiacán’s domestic traffic, which increased 43.1% in August 2007, compared to August 2006.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, S.A.B. de C.V., known as OMA, operates 13 international airports in nine states of central and northern Mexico. OMA’s airports serve Monterrey, Mexico’s third largest metropolitan area, the tourist destinations of Acapulco, Mazatlán, and Zihuatanejo, and nine other regional centers and border cities. OMA employs over 900 persons in order to offer passengers and clients, airport and commercial services in facilities that comply with all applicable international safety, security standards, and ISO 9001:2000. OMA’s strategic shareholder members are ICA, Mexico’s largest engineering, procurement, and construction company, and Aéroports de Paris Management, subsidiary of Aéroports de Paris, the second largest European airports operator. OMA is listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange (OMA) and on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (OMAB). Please visit our website, www.oma.aero.
This communication may contain forward-looking information and statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “target,” or similar expressions. While OMA's management believes that the expectations reflected in such forwardlooking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond the control of OMA, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed in our Annual Report filed on Form 20-F under the caption “Risk Factors.” OMA undertakes no obligation to publicly update its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
