Skip to main content

New Mexico City airport 'the most advanced worldwide'

The new international airport being built in Mexico City is "probably the most advanced modern airport project worldwide," Dr Bernardo Lisker, international director of The Mitre Corporation, has said. "This is an enormously important project for Mexico, without which the nation's economy would suffer a bottleneck very soon," said Lisker, who will be discussing the technical vision of the airport at BNamericas' Mexico Infrastructure Summit taking place 18–19 February. "Building the new airport in the
February 13, 2015 Read time: 2 mins

The new international airport being built in Mexico City is "probably the most advanced modern airport project worldwide," Dr Bernardo Lisker, international director of The Mitre Corporation, has said.

"This is an enormously important project for Mexico, without which the nation's economy would suffer a bottleneck very soon," said Lisker, who will be discussing the technical vision of the airport at BNamericas' Mexico Infrastructure Summit taking place 18–19 February.

"Building the new airport in the Texcoco area was by far the best alternative," Lisker added. "It will be the first airport in Latin America with simultaneous traffic flow to and from more than one airstrip, and it will be the world's first outside of the US to handle three traffic flows simultaneously."

Costing US$12.5 billion and to be located on a 4,600 hectare site, work on the airport began at the end of December, with developers focusing initially on building access roads and drainage infrastructure, and last month a consortium led by Dutch company Netherlands Airport Consultants (NAICM) won a contract to build runways and platforms and supply navigation equipment, among others.

According to the plans of the communications and transport ministry (SCT), tenders for the construction of the new airport buildings are expected to be published shortly. The first phase of construction includes a new terminal, control tower, 95 gates and three runways with capacity to handle up to 50 million passengers a year.

When complete, the new airport will have six runways and capacity of 120 million passengers a year. The existing Mexico City airport AICM can handle up to 32 million passengers a year but is close to reaching capacity.

Related Content

  • Traffic signals turn red to stop speeding drivers
    March 15, 2012
    David Crawford is encouraged by the spread of 'soft' speed policing 
  • Europe-wide demonstration of electric buses begins in Barcelona
    October 16, 2014
    A major step towards greener urban public transport was made this week with the launch of the first ZeEUS (Zero Emission Urban Bus System) demonstration in Barcelona. The flagship project is the first of its kind to test 12 metre-plus electric buses in real operation. Barcelona is the first demonstration site of the UITP-coordinated ZeEUS project, with core demonstrations in seven other European cities to follow: London and Glasgow; Stockholm; Münster and Bonn, Plzen and Cagliari. In total, 35 plug-in hy
  • Fluor chosen for LA International Airport Automated People Mover
    February 5, 2018
    Fluor Corporation (Fluor) has been chosen to lead the design-build joint venture team to operate and maintain the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Automated People Mover project for the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). It aims to provide passengers and employees with reliable and time-certain access to the airline terminals with the design and construction commencing later this year. The passenger service is scheduled for 2023.
  • US congestion costs continue to rise
    January 25, 2012
    The 2010 Urban Mobility Report, published by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University, concludes that after two years of slight declines in overall traffic congestion - attributable to the economic downturn and high fuel prices - leading indicators suggest that as the economy rebounds, traffic problems are doing the same. While 2008 was the best year for commuters in at least a decade, the problem again began to grow in 2009.