Skip to main content

Mexico City airport to cost US$1 billion

Construction of a new airport on land adjacent to the Mexico City international airport, AICM, is expected to cost US$1.12billio, said transport and communications (SCT) minister Gerardo Ruiz during a presentation of the country's national infrastructure plan 2014-18.
May 1, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Construction of a new airport on land adjacent to the Mexico City international airport, AICM, is expected to cost US$1.12billion, said transport and communications (SCT) minister Gerardo Ruiz during a presentation of the country's national infrastructure plan 2014-18.

The national infrastructure plan unveiled by the government "does not include (the cost) of new airport installations that are currently being evaluated," said Ruiz.

Mexico's civil aviation authority, DGAC, declared the airport officially saturated in April last year and no additional routes can be opened despite growing passenger demand.

The SCT announced planned in December last year to build a new airport on federal land adjacent to AICM, and has since invited a series of international architecture firms, in partnership with local firms, to design the new airport.

Seven firms, including British architects Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and local architect Teodoro González de León have submitted designs for the project, reported architecture magazine Arch Daily.

In a sign that a new airport might be operated as a concession rather than owned and operated by state airport operator ASA, Ruiz confirmed that the investment would be drawn from public and private resources.

Ruiz also unveiled a series of new projects, including expansion of Lines 4 and 9 of the Mexico City metro systems, construction of mass transit systems for Merida and Torreón and the construction of 1,932 kilometres of new cargo rail lines. Existing rail concessionaires are also expected to build a further 1,560 kilometres of rail lines with their own resources. The SCT also plans to carry out the modernisation of 20 airports across the country, including Cancún, Chetumal, Jalapa, Toluca and Tlaxcala.

Related Content

  • April 30, 2014
    Mexican government unveils infrastructure plan
    The Mexican government has unveiled a US$587 billion national infrastructure plan for 2014-18. "The national infrastructure plan includes 743 programs," said finance and public credit minister Luis Videgaray during the plan's presentation.
  • March 10, 2014
    Mexican highways to improve security monitoring with fibre optics
    Fibre optic cables will be built into new Mexican highways in order to install intelligent transport systems and closed circuit television monitoring, according to transport and communications (SCT) minister Gerardo Ruiz. The fibre optic cables will allow for the "latest generation technology such as intelligent transport systems," security monitoring such as cameras and radars as well as electronic weighing systems to ensure that trucks using the highways comply with weight regulations. "Not all high
  • June 20, 2014
    Colombia's growing airport concessions
    Colombia's three airport concessions have shown significant growth over the past ten years, each increasing passenger flow by over 200 per cent, figures from the country's civil aviation body show. Bogotá's El Dorado international airport, which became a concession in 2007, grew 235 per cent, passing from transporting 7 million passengers in 2003 to transporting 25 million in 2013. Meanwhile, Cartagena's Rafael Núñez airport grew 224 per cent from 1 million passengers in 2003 to 3.3 million in 2013.
  • November 20, 2014
    Peru lines up road, rail concessions for 2015
    Peru plans to award next year infrastructure concessions including rail and road projects. Hydro and thermal power plants and liquefied petroleum gas distribution in the capital are also being lined up, a senior government official has said. Concessions will include the fourth stretch of the Longitudinal de la Sierra highway, which calls for the construction, operation and maintenance of a 640 kilometre stretch of Peru's Longitudinal de la Sierra highway, connecting Huancayo, Izcuchaca, Mayoc and Ayacuch