California’s Cross Border Xpress expands for faster access to flights to Mexico

SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — CBX, the international pedestrian bridge connecting travelers from California to Tijuana’s airport just got bigger and more efficient.

About 430,000 square feet of space has been added to the facility, all on the Mexico side of the border, and it’s supposed to speed up travel times by about 25 minutes.

The check-in, customs and screening areas are now bigger featuring better technology.

“We have 10 check-in counters at CBX on our side of the border, there will now be 40 in the new facility,” CBX CEO Jorge Goytortua said.

Goytortua said that instead of two, there are now six new screening lines, double the lanes in the immigration and customs area, and two new boarding gates.

“Travelers are in for more comfort, for a better experience, expedited travel and more connectivity to Mexico, 37 destinations are now connected to Tijuana from CBX,” he said.

Goytortua said the expansion project cost $100 million, all funded by Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, which operates the Tijuana airport, and expects 16 million passengers per year by 2034.

And by that time, CBX expects 7 million passengers a year.

“The growth is significant and will allow customers to expedite their travel,” said Goytortua. “It will create more jobs, it will generate more travel, it will connect the region much better, this new building will allow in the future international travelers to connect to their flights without through customs in Mexico.”

Goytortua says the expansion is already attracting airlines from all over the world.

“It’s already starting to bring in more flights from China, Korea and from South America,” he said.

Right now it costs $35 for a round trip into and back from the Tijuana airport.

Most consider it a wise investment since airfare out of Tijuana, when compared to flying out of San Diego or other Southern California airports, is about 30-40 percent less expensive.