SANTA TERESA, New Mexico (Border Report) – The era of cargo planes landing and taking off with the equivalent of two to three truckloads of industrial supplies arrived at the Doña Ana County International Jetport on Tuesday.
That’s when New Mexico state officials inaugurated a reinforced 150-foot-wide runway capable of sustaining the weight and size of a Boeing 757.
“The significance is it gives us another mode of transportation for air cargo, which is huge for us,” said Jerry Pacheco, president and CEO of the Border Industrial Association. “We have a direct connection with Asia and Europe; they can land planes here and supply the industrial base not just here but, in El Paso, and Juarez. So, it gives the region more of an advantage.”
The airport could previously land planes and cargo of up to 50 tons. That capacity has been expanded to 107.5 tons.
Santa Teresa, with its four industrial parks, a commercial port of entry, a livestock import/export facility, and a highway connection to Interstate 10, has become key to the economic growth of New Mexico. It accommodates 60 percent of the state’s exports abroad and sits just north of a massive electronics manufacturing complex in far northwest Juarez.
The airport upgrades could be a catalyst for more regional development, said Mexican Consul General Mauricio Ibarra Ponce de Leon and New Mexico Border Authority Executive Director Gerardo A. Fierro.
“This is going to be very important; it is going to impact everything, including the type of border crossing that we want to have in the future,” Ibarra said. “This expansion of airport, plus what is happening in Mexico, plus the investment that is coming to Doña Ana County impact development of the region.”
Mexican officials are planning a modernization of their side of the port of entry based on burgeoning commercial activity and the possible impact of an upcoming closing of the Bridge of the Americas in El Paso to truck traffic.
On the U.S. side, a port modernization feasibility study has been completed, a new highway to move trucks faster from the port to El Paso, Texas, is in the works and officials are bracing for additional truck traffic after commercial operations at BOTA are suspended.
“Mexico is looking to develop its master plan and executive project to start the modernization (of the port) as soon as possible. Once they get that, we can get that information and see what we can do on our side to partner with the state and the federal government to bring a project on our side,” Fierro said.
Read: Read More