Find official aeronautical charts for Mexico through SENEAM, choose the correct AIP section, and verify AIRAC dates, supplements and NOTAMs.
Official aeronautical charts for Mexico are issued through SENEAM, the country’s air-navigation service provider, in the Mexican AIP and related aeronautical-information products. Use the official SENEAM publication portal, then verify the chart’s effective date against the latest AIRAC amendment, AIP supplement and applicable NOTAMs before flying or simming.
For Aviation & Real-World Flying, the full issuing organisation is Servicios a la Navegación en el Espacio Aéreo Mexicano (SENEAM), part of Mexico’s transport ministry. AFAC is the civil-aviation regulator, but SENEAM is the primary source for the Mexican Aeronautical Information Publication and its associated charts.
Where exactly are Mexican aeronautical charts published?
Start with SENEAM’s official aeronautical-information service and look for AIP México, sometimes described as the PIA, or Publicación de Información Aeronáutica. Follow the publication route from the official government service rather than relying on an isolated PDF found through a search engine.
- Confirm the publisher: the publication should identify SENEAM and Mexico as the responsible aeronautical-information authority.
- Open the correct AIP section: use AD for airport-specific charts and ENR for en-route information and charts.
- Check the amendment record: match the chart to the effective AIRAC amendment, not merely the date on which the file was downloaded.
- Review temporary information: check AIP Supplements and NOTAMs for changes that have not yet been incorporated into the chart.
Access arrangements can vary by product. Some material may be available through an online publication, while particular chart series or distribution formats may require registration, subscription or purchase. Free availability alone does not determine whether a chart is official; our explanation of how to identify legally sourced official charts covers that distinction.
Which Mexican chart do you need?
The right source depends on whether you need an airport diagram, an instrument procedure, an en-route chart or a visual-navigation chart.
| Required information | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Airport, apron or parking layout | The airport’s AIP AD entry, especially its chart list under AD 2.24 |
| SID, STAR or instrument approach | The relevant airport entry in AIP AD and its procedure charts |
| IFR routes, reporting points and controlled airspace | AIP ENR, including the applicable ENR chart section |
| VFR navigation coverage | SENEAM’s official visual-chart publications or chart catalogue, supported by the relevant ENR and AD information |
| Temporary closures or procedure changes | AIP Supplements and NOTAMs rather than the base chart alone |
Mexico’s official chart series should not automatically be treated as the equivalent of an FAA sectional. Chart names, scales and distribution methods differ between states. Our overview of which official chart type to obtain for each phase of flight helps separate VFR, en-route, airport and instrument-procedure products.
How do you know a Mexican chart is valid?
A Mexican chart is operationally usable only when its effective date and amendment status agree with the active publication record. A genuine SENEAM PDF can still be obsolete.
- Check the chart identification and effective date, usually shown in the chart margin or title block.
- Confirm that no later AIRAC amendment has replaced it.
- Read relevant AIP Supplements; these may introduce temporary procedures or runway changes lasting longer than a typical NOTAM.
- Check NOTAMs for short-notice closures, outages, restrictions and amendments issued after the chart became effective.
A common mistake is checking only the date printed by the PDF viewer or browser. That may be the file’s creation or download date, not the aeronautical effective date.
Why does the official chart not match the flight simulator?
The usual cause is a cycle mismatch between the chart, the simulator’s navigation database and the airport scenery. These three components can be different ages even when each appears to work correctly.
An older simulator database may lack a waypoint, use a previous frequency or contain a superseded procedure. Scenery can retain old runway numbers or taxiway names after the real airport has changed. Search for airports by their Mexican ICAO code, such as MMMX, rather than assuming an IATA code will work in every chart index.
For simulation, either update the navigation data to the same AIRAC cycle as the chart or deliberately use a matching historical chart. For real-world flying, never use an obsolete chart merely because it matches a simulator. Once you have the correct plate, our instrument approach chart guide explains procedure tracks, frequencies, minima and missed-approach instructions.