A $13.3 billion airport abandoned

The new Mexico City airport, currently under construction, should never open.This is the result of a consultation organized under the leadership of the new Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador last October. He wants to cancel the project, estimated at 13.3 billion dollars (about 11 billion euros).

The acual airport under construction (source:Twitter)

An important decision

President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador held a public vote in October 2018 to determine the fate of the international airport project designed by Norman Foster and Fernando Romero. 70% of voters are against the construction project. The Mexican government will thus be able to save, according to the Mexican president, "100 billion pesos", or about 4.4 billion euros. As a reminder, the Mexican government mainly finances the project at more than 60%.

A gigantic project

Benito-Juárez International Airport in Mexico City is the current airport and has a traffic load of almost 26 million passengers a year. The new Mexico City Airport project on Lake Texcoco was to replace it. Being in the same area as the current airport, it has the advantage of being only 32 kilometers away from it. The first phase, including a terminal capable of accommodating 68 million passengers per year and three runways, was to open in 2020. Like the new Istanbul hub inaugurated on October 29, 2018, the airport was designed to facilitate passenger and passenger connections. offer a better experience for those who pass through, with relaxation areas and shops.

Inside of the airport in 3D (source:skift.com)

A project that has problems

For several years now, this project has become bogged down or rather "slumped". Indeed, the main problem is the soil on which the airport is located. Every year, the soil sinks an average of 21 to 30 centimeters a year. Other ecological consequences have also been shown by opponents of the project: risk of disappearance of migratory birds, disruption of biodiversity, ... .Worse, the issue of water supply of populations arises. Conduits and canals as well as treatment plants are under construction to separate rainwater and wastewater. Water control lagoons have also been built. Farmers have demonstrated in recent years against the dispossession of their land and participated in the Peoples Front for the defense of the land. Charges of corruption when the project is awarded to private companies can also be heard.

The new Mexico City airport is already 32% built

The foundations and nearly 75% of the floors of the terminal should be completed by the end of the year. Already much of the work on the tracks has been done (tracks 35R / 17L, 36L / 18R and 01R / 19L).

In addition to the $ 3.2 billion already spent on the project (feasibility studies, architecture and design, construction, ...), the Mexican government will have to pay compensation to the private companies of the project. It is estimated between 100 and 120 billion pesos is more than 5 billion dollars.

A disputed abandonment

The number of polling stations during the consultation is disputed by opponents of the project (only a thousand offices). The distribution of polling stations was also criticized, with some considering that it favored popular areas that largely voted for Lopez Obrador in the July presidential elections. Large demonstrations, sometimes with some violence, took place in October and November 2018. Some demonstrators then displayed placards to support one of the arguments opposed to the project: the cost. According to them, it would be cheaper to finish the airport currently under construction than to make a new one further. Aeronautical experts have also expressed their doubts about the interest of the project. Indeed, the new airport located nearby would saturate the airspace of the Valley of Mexico nearly 5 years after its opening.

The project on the Santa-Lucia base (Meganoticias.com)

The new mexican president visits the Santa-Lucia base (source: la verdad)

While opponents continue to express their dissatisfaction, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador prefers to focus on the new project at Santa Lucia Air Base, where he recently visited (a photograph shows him holding a plan for the project) .

Image of the new project(source:Forbes Mexico)

Currently used by the Mexican Army, the air base is expected to host the new Mexico City airport. During the first phase of the project, two tracks and a passenger terminal would be built, with an opening envisaged in 2023.

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