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Mexico City Texcoco Airport was a planned airport in
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
that was meant to become Mexico's New International Airport (Spanish: ''Nuevo Aeropuerto Internacional de México''—NAICM or NAIM). The project was announced in September 2014 but was canceled in late 2018 after a referendum was held stating that the new airport should be built at a different location.
Felipe Ángeles International Airport Felipe Ángeles International Airport (IATA: NLU, ICAO: MMSM) is the second airport serving the Mexico City metropolitan area, opened on March 21, 2022. It is located in Zumpango, State of Mexico, north-northeast of the historic center of Me ...
opened in March 2022. Texcoco Airport was first announced by
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Enrique Peña Nieto Enrique Peña Nieto (; born 20 July 1966), commonly referred to by his initials EPN, is a Mexican politician who served as the 64th president of Mexico from 1 December 2012 to 30 November 2018. A member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party ...
in his State of the Union Address on September 2, 2014. It was billed as Mexico's largest public infrastructure work in a century, and was set to replace Mexico City's current
Benito Juárez International Airport Mexico City International Airport ( es, link=yes, Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México, AICM); officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez'' (Benito Juárez International Airport) is the main international airport serving ...
. In October 2018, after construction had already begun, a non-binding referendum was organized by then President-elect
Andrés Manuel López Obrador Andrés Manuel López Obrador (; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican politician who has been serving as the 65th president of Mexico since 1 December 2018. He previously served as Head of Government of Mex ...
, in which 69 percent of the 1.067 million voters rejected the planned airport, choosing instead to build a new airport on the grounds of Santa Lucía Air Force Base. Construction continued for several weeks, but was suspended on December 27, 2018 after López Obrador took office. In 2020, the government of Mexico announced that they would convert the space where the airport was being built into the Lake Texcoco Ecological Park, which will be a public space and an area of ecological restoration.


Location

Texcoco Airport was to be constructed on a site in the ''Zona Federal del Lago de Texcoco'', in part of the dry bed of
Lake Texcoco Lake Texcoco ( es, Lago de Texcoco) was a natural lake within the "Anahuac" or Valley of Mexico. Lake Texcoco is best known as where the Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan, which was located on an island within the lake. After the Spanish con ...
. The site was only away from the existing Benito Juárez Airport, making the simultaneous operation of the airports impossible. It was therefore planned that all operations and traffic from Benito Juárez would be transferred to NAIM upon the airport reaching operational status.


Costs and financing

The total cost for construction and initial operation of NAIM was estimated at up to US$13.3 billion, of which approximately 60% was to be contributed by the Mexican government through public funds, and approximately 40% was expected to be funded through a combination of bank loans and the offering of debt securities. The ''Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de México'' (GACM), which is fully owned by the Mexican
Secretariat of Communications and Transportation The Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (''Secretaría de Infraestructura, Comunicaciones y Transportes'', SICT) of Mexico is the national federal entity that regulates commercial road traffic and broadcasting. Its he ...
(SCT), was to build and operate the new airport. The GACM created a special purpose trust, the Mexico City Airport Trust, in order to execute the airport's private financing. The trust structured the private contributions as securities drawing from passenger charges at the existing AICM and the future passenger charges of the new airport, without recourse to the Mexican government or the airport sponsors. This collateral structure was designed to ensure that even if the project were to be canceled, the issued bonds would still be honored. In September 2017, the Mexico City Airport Trust successfully placed US$4 billion in private debt securities for the financing of NAIM. $2 billion were issued in long-term green bonds. This green bond issuance became the largest in
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
at the time and the first green bond from an
emerging market An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or wer ...
to receive a Green Bond Assessment grade from
Moody's Investors Service Moody's Investors Service, often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its historical name. Moody's Investors Service provides internationa ...
.


Facilities

The facilities at NAIM were planned to be completed in several stages. By October 20, 2020, the airport was expected to have one main terminal of and three independent runways, which would yield a capacity for 68 million passengers annually. By 2065, the airport was expected to host six runways, an additional main terminal, and two satellite terminals, giving it a capacity for 125 million passengers. This would have made NAIM the second largest airport in the world. The construction plan for the airport was developed by the global engineering and consultancy company
Arup Group Limited Arup (officially Arup Group Limited) is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London which provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment ...
. The architectural project was to be designed in collaboration by
Norman Foster Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Nor ...
who worked on
Beijing Capital International Airport Beijing Capital International Airport is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the other one being Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX). It is located northeast of Beijing's city center, in an exclave of Chaoyang District ...
and
Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distingui ...
, and Mexican architect
Fernando Romero Fernando Romero Havaux (born 11 October 1971) is a Mexican businessman, design curator, and architect. He is the founder of fr·ee and Archivo Diseño y Arquitectura. He is the son-in-law of Mexican billionaire, Carlos Slim. Background Fernan ...
, who worked on the
Soumaya Museum The Museo Soumaya is a private museum in Mexico City and a non-profit cultural institution with two museum buildings in Mexico City — Plaza Carso and Plaza Loreto. It has over 66,000 works from 30 centuries of art including sculptures from Pre ...
.


Terminal design

The main terminal was to be constructed in an X shape, which is considered an efficient way to extend the number of gates, and is used in many other airports. The X shape is also thought to be symbolic of the country's name, "México". According to the architects, the terminal was to be built in the style of
Mexican architecture Many of Mexico's older architectural structures, including entire sections of Pre-Hispanic and colonial cities, have been designated World Heritage sites for their historical and artistic significance. The country has the largest number of sites ...
and was to be much larger than typical terminals, with a maximum internal span in excess of . The roof was to be made of a lightweight membrane-like material. The whole terminal was to be constructed using pre-fabricated segments.


Sustainability

The project claimed it was "designed to be the world’s most sustainable airport", and was aiming for a LEED Platinum certification.


Antecedents and protests

In 2002, President
Vicente Fox Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006. After campaigning as a right-wing populist, Fox was elected president on the ...
announced the construction of a new, larger airport on of land in the municipalities of Texcoco and
San Salvador Atenco San Salvador Atenco is the municipal seat of Atenco, in the Mexican state of Mexico. The name "Atenco" comes from a Nahuatl phrase meaning "place on the edge of water". The town Fifteen excavations have been done in this area, uncovering mammot ...
in the same area as the new airport is planned today. When protests held by the
Community Front in Defense of Land The Community Front in Defense of Land (in Spanish: ''Frente del Pueblo en Defensa de La Tierra'', FPDT) was formed in 2002, by residents of San Salvador Atenco, to resist their forced displacement by the government of Mexico. The government plann ...
- an organization of locals who were to be displaced - were violently repressed, the new airport was cancelled. Prior to the 2014 announcement of the construction of the new airport, the government had purchased ''
ejido An ''ejido'' (, from Latin ''exitum'') is an area of communal land used for agriculture in which community members have usufruct rights rather than ownership rights to land, which in Mexico is held by the Mexican state. People awarded ejidos in ...
'' land (agricultural land held in common by local communities), in order to make space for the new airport. Some local groups in
Atenco San Salvador Atenco is the municipal seat of Atenco, in the Mexican state of Mexico. The name "Atenco" comes from a Nahuatl phrase meaning "place on the edge of water". The town Fifteen excavations have been done in this area, uncovering mammot ...
and nearby communities claimed that the federal government had acquired the land through deception and strong-arming, and small-scale protests took place after the announcement. The airport plan drew negative reactions across social media with the new movement, #YoPriefieroElLago, in which the distribution of infographics and “fast facts” spread across various platforms. The movement culminated in the creation of
mini-documentary
of the same name documenting the airport plan, the land and space it would require, interviews with Atenco community members, and the proliferation of the social media movement. Post-closure According to the SCT, cancellation of the project left a debt of US$6 billion in bonds and $30 billion in securities, which will be paid off through the
landing fee A landing fee is a charge paid by an aircraft operator to an airport company for landing at a particular airport. Landing fees can vary greatly between airports, with congested airports, ones where most of the landing slots are held by airline ...
s at
Benito Juárez International Airport Mexico City International Airport ( es, link=yes, Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México, AICM); officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez'' (Benito Juárez International Airport) is the main international airport serving ...
over a period of 19 years. This debt is in addition to the $56.8 billion paid to the GACM as compensation for the cessation agreement of the fees. None of the money raised through the landing fees at Benito Juárez can be allocated for the construction of the new Mexico City Santa Lucía Airport or for maintenance of the current airport. In early 2021, the Superior Auditor of the Federation estimated that cancelling the airport would cost 113 billion pesos.


Alleged fraud

On July 10, 2020, it was alleged that ''Grupo Gilbert'' had fraudulently won possession of 49,000 tons of steel that had originally been designated for the NAIM. On August 12, 2020, Hugo Bello, leader of the ''Confederacón Libertad de Trabajadores de México'' (Freedom Confederation of Mexican Workers), was arrested for kidnapping and for suspected involvement in embezzlement of money destined for construction of the now-defunct airport.


Ecological Park project


References


External links

*
FR-EE's presentation

Video at Foster + Partners website
* Airport site map on
Referendum threatening the building of the airport
{{Authority control 2020 in Mexico 2020 in transport Mexico City International Airport Defunct airports in Mexico National symbols of Mexico Foster and Partners buildings
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
Transportation in Mexico City Proposed transportation infrastructure in Mexico Airports in the State of Mexico 2020s in Mexico City Texcoco, State of Mexico