The opening comes as Mexicans prepare to vote on April 10 in a referendum championed by Lopez Obrador on whether he should stay in office. In the meanwhile, it will be funded with public money.
"It's a modern airport built by military engineers in record time, at a low cost and with the most advanced technology and quality materials," he said ahead of the opening.Īirport officials acknowledge that Felipe Angeles is not expected to be profitable until 2026. Lopez Obrador has hailed the new airport as an example of his government's austerity and efficiency, with zero cost overruns. The army is also involved in construction of a tourist train in the Yucatan Peninsula - another one of the president's major infrastructure projects, which also include an oil refinery in the southeastern state of Tabasco. Lopez Obrador tasked the military with overseeing construction of the new airport at a cost of around $3.7 billion. He branded the $13 billion project a "bottomless pit" rife with corruption and decided instead to turn the Santa Lucia military air base into a second airport for the sprawling Mexican capital. Three weeks before facing a midterm recall referendum, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will on Monday inaugurate his first major infrastructure pet project - a controversial new airport for Mexico City.īuilt at a military air base outside the capital, Felipe Angeles International Airport is meant to take the pressure off the city's Benito Juarez airport.īut so far only a few airlines have agreed to use it, for a small number of mostly domestic flights.īenito Juarez, which handled a record 50.3 million passengers in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic and is located within Mexico City, is one of the busiest airports in Latin America.įelipe Angeles, named after a general in the Mexican revolution, divided opinion from the start.Īfter taking office in 2018, Lopez Obrador canceled another airport project launched by the previous government that was already one-third complete.
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