Following a one-year delay from the originally scheduled date, ADS-B requirements in Mexico go into effect on January 1. The delay was apparently due to aircraft equipment either not being readily available or not installed in enough aircraft of Mexican registry, as well as ATC infrastructure not fully in place. The ADS-B equipment rule mandates 1090-MHz Mode S extended squitter transponders, but AOPA said it will “continue to work on persuading the Mexican government to allow 978-MHz universal access transceivers” as allowed in the U.S.

Mexico’s ADS-B operational regulations apply similarly to those in the U.S., including in Mexico Class A, B, and C airspace; Class E airspace above 10,000 feet; Class E airspace over the Gulf of Mexico above 2,500 feet agl; within 12 nm of the Mexican coast above 3,000 feet msl; and within 30 nm of Mexico City International Airport from the surface to 10,000 feet.

Installed ADS-B equipment must be used at all times, and there is a process in place to allow operators to request permission in advance to fly with inoperative ADS-B equipment without time constraints, according to AOPA. Additionally, “Requests to fly an aircraft without any ADS-B equipment installed must be submitted at least one hour before departure.”