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

  • Mounting benefits of dynamic tolling project
    January 30, 2012
    Wisconsin's four-year HOT lanes pilot project, launched in May 2008, cost US$18.8 million to construct. Halfway into the project, which uses variably priced, or dynamic, tolling to improve highway efficiency, the benefits are mounting. The problem was obvious, and frustrating, to anyone who ever sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic on State Route 167 and watched a lone car whiz by every 20 seconds or so in the carpool lane. But for planners at the Washington State Department of Transportation, the conundrum was
    Read More
  • ITS Australia supports funding proposal for industry research
    October 27, 2016
    ITS Australia has welcomed the transport industry’s final application to the Federal Government’s US$498 million (AU$653 million) Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program, which has been established to solve industry identified challenges through outcome-focused collaborative research partnerships. ITS Australia, the national body for the intelligent transport systems (ITS) industry, is a consortium member of iMOVE CRC, one of seven shortlisted applicants. With a focus on developing substantial imp
    Read More
  • Insight into China's smart cities initiatives
    April 25, 2013
    Schneider Electric, which has been playing an active role in smart transportation systems in China since 1990, provides an insight into smart city initiatives in the country. Today, most cities across the world are facing unprecedented growth, which questions the viability of the current development model. They are immersed in a competition with each other, both domestically and internationally, in terms of investments, jobs and talents. Cities need to become more attractive and intelligent by becoming more
    Read More
  • Syracuse models post-industrial revival for US cities
    August 13, 2015
    A connective corridor in Syracuse, New York State, could be a model for other post-industrial cities, as David Crawford discovers. The aim of the city of Syracuse’ 5.6km-long Connective Corridor in Onandaga County in upstate New York is to create a model ‘complete street’ for use in wider regeneration schemes. Key transport-sector components are traffic calming, high-quality transit with accessible passenger information, plus walkability and bike-friendliness.
    Read More

Highlighted Content