# Terminal Aérea metro station

Terminal Aérea metro station is a Mexico City Metro station in Venustiano Carranza, Mexico City. It is an underground station with two side platforms, serving Line 5 (the Yellow Line), between Oceanía and Hangares stations. The station serves the Mexico City International Airport and the nearby colonias (neighborhoods) of Peñón de los Baños and Moctezuma 2ª sección along Boulevard Puerto Aéreo.
Terminal Aérea metro station opened on 19 December 1981, providing northwestward service toward Consulado metro station and eastward service toward Pantitlán metro station. The station's pictogram features an airliner and a control tower, reflecting its proximity to the airport's Terminal 1. Inside, there are six murals painted by David Lach. In 2019, the station had an average daily ridership of 18,389 passengers, ranking it the 96th busiest station in the network and the fourth busiest of the line.

## Location and layout

Terminal Aérea is an underground metro station on Boulevard Puerto Aéreo, in Venustiano Carranza borough, in eastern Mexico City. It is located approximately 200 meters (660 ft) away from the entrance to the Gate A of the Terminal 1 at Mexico City International Airport.
Terminal Aérea metro station has two exits leading to Boulevard Puerto Aéreo, but none directly to the airport. The east exit is at the corner with Calle Aeropuerto Civil, in Colonia Peñón de los Baños, while the west entrance is found between Calle Norte 33 and Calle Oriente 33 in Colonia Moctezuma 2ª sección. On their Policy Review of Mexico, the OECD criticized the station for not having proper signage and for not being designed for first-time travelers as they "must negotiate over 110 steps" to reach it.
Within the system, the station lies between Oceanía and Hangares. The area is serviced by the Terminal 1 Metrobús station, belonging to Line 4, Line 4 (formerly Line G) of the trolleybus system, Routes 43 and 200 of the Red de Transporte de Pasajeros network, by Route 20-B of the city's public bus system, and the airport's people mover, Aerotrén.

## History and construction

Line 5 of the Mexico City Metro was built by Cometro, a subsidiary of Empresas ICA. Its first section, where Terminal Aérea station is located, was opened on 19 December 1981, running from Pantitlán to Consulado stations.
Terminal Aérea metro station was built with Santo Tomás marble floors, travertine marble walls, and rustic-textured stucco plafond. The track between Oceanía and Terminal Aérea stations spans 1,174 meters (3,852 ft), and descends from the grade level to the underground level, with a 4.9% slope at the time of its opening. For the opposite section toward Hangares, which is 1,153 meters (3,783 ft) long, the tunnel was built with slurry walls using the Milan method.
Near the station, in Colonia Peñon de los Baños, workers found the remains of mammoths, bison, horses, camels, birds, and fishes, as well as a Teotihuacan settlement.

### Name and pictogram

Before the station was built, Mexico City International Airport was serviced by the Aeropuerto station on Line 1 (the Pink line), located 15 blocks away to the south. After the Terminal Aérea metro station was constructed, many people continued to disembark at Aeropuerto station due to its confusing name and the station's airliner silhouette pictogram. It was not until 1997 that the station was renamed "Boulevard Puerto Aéreo", and the logo was updated to feature a logo of a bridge with a dome below, reflecting local landmarks. The pictogram for Terminal Aérea metro station depicts an airliner in front of a control tower instead.

### Incidents

On 4 May 2015, a train crashed at Oceanía metro station when a train coming from Terminal Aérea crashed with another one parked at the end of the platforms. The crash was caused by a brake failure, coupled with heavy rain and hail. Terminal Aérea station was temporarily closed for repairs after the crash.
Since 1981, subsidence caused by rain had increased the slope between both stations to at least 7%. To address the sinkings, a 1 km (0.62 mi) tunnel extension was planned but canceled due to budget constrains. Instead, an 800 m (0.50 mi) anti-rain roof that cost Mx$65 million was built to prevent the tracks from getting wet and reduce the risk of trains sliding.
From 1 to 16 March 2020, Terminal Aérea, Hangares, and Pantitlán stations were closed due to a gasoline leak at a surface petrol station.

### Ridership

According to the data provided by the authorities, before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public transport, commuters averaged per year between 15,700 and 18,400 daily entrances between 2014 and 2019; the station had a ridership of 6,712,062 passengers (18,389 passengers per day) passengers in 2019, marking an increase of 74,719 passengers compared to 2018. In 2019 specifically, Terminal Aérea metro station ranked as the 96th busiest of the system's 195 stations and the line's fourth busiest.
Annual passenger ridership :
| Year | Ridership | Average daily | Rank | % change |
| 2023 | 5,718,207 | 15,666 | 79/195 | −0.15% |
| 2022 | 5,727,082 | 15,690 | 69/195 | +29.58% |
| 2021 | 4,419,693 | 12,108 | 64/195 | +12.09% |
| 2020 | 3,943,045 | 10,773 | 92/195 | −41.25% |
| 2019 | 6,712,062 | 18,389 | 96/195 | +1.13% |
| 2018 | 6,637,343 | 18,184 | 100/195 | +5.65% |
| 2017 | 6,282,484 | 17,212 | 105/195 | +2.70% |
| 2016 | 6,117,190 | 16,713 | 108/195 | +3.03% |
| 2015 | 5,937,008 | 16,265 | 106/195 | +3.53% |
| 2014 | 5,734,509 | 15,710 | 108/195 | +3.57% |
| Historical annual passenger ridership ||||||
| 2009 | 4,905,984 | 13,441 | 111/175 | — |

## Landmarks

Terminal Aérea station has six murals painted by Mexican artist David Lach in 1981, becoming the first person to do it inside the Mexico City Metro. Four murals, titled Paisajes cálidos y fríos, are located on the platform's headwalls, with Cálidos on the southern walls and Fríos on the northern walls. According to Lach, the red and green colors represent direction and temperature. The other two murals, Tlaltilco (in the east lobby) and Cuitzeo (in the west lobby), blend elements of pre-Columbian culture with contemporary Mexican imagery.
Near the station, a pedestrian bridge known as "MacPuente" is used as an informal observation deck where people gather to watch airplanes land and take off.