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

  • Vehicle identification systems aid dynamic bus operations
    April 24, 2013
    David Crawford looks at a global trend towards more efficiency in less space As buses gain increased profile in the public transport mix needed for modal shift, attention is turning towards improving terminal layouts for more efficient handling of services and passengers. Locations, too, tend to be in central areas of cities, where sites are restricted and land values high. Enter the dynamic bus station, which uses modern vehicle identification systems to optimise space use and streamline service operation
  • EU identifies priorities for trans-European transport network until 2030
    January 20, 2015
    The European Commission has published nine studies on the state of play and the development needs of the Ten-T core network corridors. The studies have identified infrastructure development needs which represent approximately US$811 billion of financial investment until 2030. They highlight the importance of optimising the use of infrastructure along the corridors, notably through intelligent transport systems, efficient management and the promotion of future-oriented clean transport solutions. This is the
  • Development of cooperative driving applications for work zones
    July 17, 2012
    The German AKTIV project is researching several cooperative driving applications for use in work zones. PTV's Michael Ortgiese details progress. The steep increases in traffic volumes predicted back in the early 1990s have unfortunately been proven to be more than accurate. In Germany, the AKTIV project continues to look into cooperative technologies' potential to reduce the impact of those increased traffic volumes and keep traffic moving despite limitations in infrastructure capacity.
  • Success of Kuala Lumpur's dual purpose tunnel
    September 12, 2012
    Malaysia’s capital boasts a unique piece of infrastructure; a combined stormwater and motorway tunnel, the longest multi-purpose tunnel in the world. Kuala Lumpur’s Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (Smart) was conceived as a project under the Malaysian Federal Government to alleviate the flooding problem in the city centre. Although a booming city and the nerve centre for Malaysia’s economy, KL was built along the flood plains of the Klang River and, since its earliest days has been subjected to floodi