LONDON – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopes Obrador (AMLO) will be inaugurating the new airport of Mexico City next to the Santa Lucia Air Force Base.
The president has chosen to halt the building of the Texcoco Airport – of which the building began at the end of the previous government – as AMLO said that the $13 billion airport is a symbol of corruption.
Location is Decided
The new airport is going to be next to the already existing Santa Lucia Air Force Base and renamed the commercial side to Felipe Angeles International Airport.
This is one of AMLO’s biggest infrastructure projects since he took office in 2018. The main goal of the new airport is to ease congestion that has been building up at the already existing Airport of Mexico City (AICM).
The new airport is located approximately 50 kilometers from the historical city center by car, however, there is as of yet no rail connection, but it is estimated that it will be finished next year.
The infrastructure of the old airport is clearly ready, with satellite imagery showing that the layout of the airport is already finished and that the construction can work from there using the layout as the basis, although it has no use now, now that the airport will be opened today (March 21st) by AMLO.
The Fate of Texcoco Is Sealed…
The president has decided what the future of the Texcoco airport would be.
According to the president, the Texcoco airport would be turned into a national park, aiming to restore the ecological impact it once did on the area, and it would also be a great help to restore the climate adaptation for the city.
The location of the Texcoco is where once, up to a hundred years ago, the site of the old Lake Texcoco was. Over time, thanks to human migration to Mexico City, the lake has been dried up and used for human living space.
“It really is beautiful, it’s one of the best airports in the world, a top-quality piece of work by the Army’s engineers,” Lopez Obrador said ahead of the inauguration.
AMLO has spent up to $1.8 billion on paying back the shareholders of the old Texcoco airport, adding to the sunk costs of the abandoned project.
There are some worries, however. Some critics are worried that both airports are able to operate simultaneously, however, the government is adamant that they are able that both airports will and could operate simultaneously.
Another worry is during Independence day. Currently, during Independence Day, which is on September 16, AICM (the current airport) will be closed for operations for the entire day, for the reason that the air force is holding an air show with a flyover over the city center, and it will be unsafe to operate.
The planes depart from and return to the current Air Force base, so it is currently unclear how the government will tackle this.
