Last week when I flew out of Mexico City I had a surprise: there is a new terminal! I have been in and out of there periodically over the past year and saw the construction that was going on and then saw that a new International wing had opened. Everyone had been talking about the new “terminal” that was to open and I thought that this was it. So, was I ever surprised to face the fact that there was a new terminal across the runway. The new terminal serves only Aeromexico and is a large, sleek, chrome building. From inside it feels like one is enveloped by a huge chunk of Swiss cheese. The roof and walls are made from polished aluminum and incorporate a motif of huge round holes. The passengers wait in a large area of open seating which provides a sense of expansiveness and seems to be less noisy than smaller seating areas would be. The views are great.
This new terminal has some built in problems, however. For one, after entering the main terminal area, there are no public telephones. There are shops and restrooms so perhaps the phones have not yet been installed.
The fact that this terminal serves only Aeromexico presents difficulties to the passenger. I arrived by bus which let me off at the main (former) terminal. After wandering around, undecided as to what to do, I went up to the Aeromexico counter. The staff at the counter was able to print me a boarding pass but was not able to check in my luggage. They said that I would have to take the tram to the new terminal…but that the train only allowed hand luggage on it. Nevertheless, I made the long trek to the train and boarded with my luggage with no problem. It turns out that the train only runs ever 15 minutes. I had plenty of time so this was not a difficulty for me but it has become an issue with passengers who may arrive on one airline and have to change terminals to continue on their journey. One friend experienced the following: He was flying within Mexico and landed at the new terminal. From there he had to change to a different airline but Aeromexico would not transfer his luggage, had no personnel to give advice or to help, so he had to collect his luggage himself at the new terminal and then face the challenge of walking up a long ramp and sneaking it onto the tram, riding around to the old terminal, re-checking his luggage, and then…missing his connecting flight. There was no sympathy. He ended up having to spend the night at the airport hotel ($180) and taking a flight the next day.

After speaking with several representatives this, unfortunately, seems to be the way this is going to operate for the time being.
So, if you are flying into Mexico City and need to change planes to Aeromexico be sure to give you self enough time (at least an hour) to move from one terminal to another and then go through the whole process of checking in and x ray all over again. Patience is the name of the game.