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Mexico City to Open $9.2B Airport in 2018

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A $9.2 billion airport planned in Mexico City will increase annual passenger capacity from 30 million to more than 120 million when complete.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto unveiled plans for a new airport in Mexico City that will accommodate up to 50 million passengers annually when it opens. The airport, which will be completed in three phases, will have an annual passenger capacity of 120 million, according to a report from Flightglobal.

The new airport will be located near the current Benito Juarez International Airport (MEX), which is already exceeding its 30 million annual passenger capacity, according to Nieto. Phase one will involve the construction of three runways and 95 gates, which will allow the airport to serve 50 million passengers annually.

The governor of the state of Mexico, Eruviel Ávila, told Flightglobal that additional “ground and cargo infrastructure integration projects around the new airport” and a new contiguous “academic and industrial aerospace cluster” are also planned. The total cost is budgeted at $9.2 billion.

Phase two will include the addition of three more runways and more terminal space, which will increase the airports annual passenger capacity to 120 million. The airport is expected to open in 2018, with phase two being complete by 2028. Ávila also told Flightglobal that the airport will be “the world’s first carbon dioxide-neutral airport outside of Europe” and that it will be designed as a “green airport.”

The dramatic, x-shaped airport will be offset with bright lighting. It was designed by Norman Foster and Fernando Romero, the son-in-law of Mexico’s richest man, telecom-tycoon Carlos Slim.

When he made the announcement, Nieto said constructing a new “world-class airport” was one of his administration’s first priorities when he took office in 2012. He added that they had conducted “exhaustive studies” to determine the best location for the new airport.

[Photo: iStock]

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