Mexican president revels in new airport; questions remain (2024)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador inaugurated a new Mexico City airport on Monday, one of his four hallmark building projects.

The government pulled out all the fanfare it could muster, including releasing a documentary on the project showing an army general talking to a statue.

The terminal was built by the army, on an army airbase, and named after an army general.

But the new terminal will handle only about 16 flights per day, in part because it is so far from the city and rail links and expressways have yet to be completed. On Monday only about 2,000 passengers used the new terminal, a far cry from the 2.4 million the government hopes to attract by the end of the year.

Only one “international” flight will use the airport, a flight to Caracas, Venezuela, operated by a Venezuelan carrier that is under U.S. sanctions.

López Obrador conceded that new terminal is more popular among cargo flights than passenger jets.

“It is just a question of the airlines increasing their flights,” the president said. “In the case of cargo traffice there has been more progress, the (old) Mexico City airport is saturated in cargo, as well.”

The new Felipe Angeles Mexico City airport reflects the contrasts and contradictions of López Obrador’s administration.

There is government austerity — his main campaign promise is fully on display in the rather bare-bones terminal — as well as his customary outsized reliance on the Mexican army.

A documentary on the building of the terminal features an army general speaking to and saluting a huge statue of Gen. Felipe Angeles, who fought alongside Pancho Villa in Mexico’s 1910-1917 Revolution and was later executed.

But there are also widely ridiculed government claims about how long it will take passengers to get to the new terminal, located 27 miles (43 kilometers) from the city center, and repeated complaints by the president that there is a conspiracy in the press to besmirch his new airport.

The president sees the new airport as a symbol of his twilight battle against privilege, conservativism and ostentation, things he despises.

López Obrador found an easy target in the vastly expensive, architecturally daring project started by his predecessor to build a huge, flashy new airport in a swamp on the city’s eastern edge, much closer to the city’s center.

López Obrador decided to cancel that and build the new airport on firmer soil to the north. It is projected to cost $4 billion, which López Obrador claims represents a cost savings compared to the swampy site, which might have required billions in maintenance because of the waterlogged soil.

The new airport will run in tandem with Mexico City’s existing airport, whose two, saturated terminals had been scheduled for closure under the earlier plan.

It is one of four keystone projects he is racing to finish before his term ends in 2024 — the airport, an oil refinery, a tourist train in the Yucatan Peninsula and a train linking Gulf coast and Pacific seaports — reflecting his vision that his is not just a normal, six-year presidential term. Mexico does not allow reelection.

He sees himself as leading a historic, irreversible “transformation” of Mexico, and he has turned to building projects — and the army — to guard that legacy. The army will actually own and operate some of the projects after they’re finished.

But the rush to complete the projects has drawn criticism. The new airport was inaugurated before road and rail links were completed, and the government has announced it will force any carriers who want to schedule new flights to Mexico City to use the new airport, rather than the older, closer airport.

When his Maya Train tourist project ran into problems — engineers found they couldn’t build an elevated stretch along the Caribbean coast because it would mean closing down the region’s only highway — they simply began running the line through the low jungle.

No comprehensive environmental impact statement or feasibility plan was ever drawn up for the project. Nobody knows how many tourists will really use it.

In a bid to boost the new terminal, the government changed the rules that usually require passengers to show up two hours before a domestic flight, and three hours before an international flight. At the Felipe Angeles terminal, they will only be required to show up one or two hours before those flights.

Mexican president revels in new airport; questions remain (2024)

FAQs

What happened to Mexico City's new airport? ›

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 due to how close it was to close housing, rising cost and a geographical issue with the site.

How does the Mexican president fly? ›

The Mexican president also uses smaller airplanes for local trips. Some such as a Gulfstream III. Other airplanes used are Learjet 36A, Learjet 35A and Rockwell Turbocommander 695A. Helicopters are also used such as Eurocopter Super Puma and Puma.

What was the debacle at Mexico City Airport? ›

The airport has maintenance problems, including flooding or sewage smells in some areas. But the country's airline industry chamber says that's because the government took away the terminal's revenues to pay for an airport project elsewhere that was later cancelled.

Who owns Mexico City airport? ›

The airport is owned by Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de México and operated by Aeropuertos y Servicios Auxiliares, the government-owned corporation, which also operates 21 other airports throughout Mexico.

How much is the Mexican president salary? ›

Member states and observers of the United Nations, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the European Union
StateHead of state annual salary
Mexico67,903 USD (President)
Micronesia32,000 USD (President)
Moldova9,264 USD (President)
Monaco52,063,000 USD (Prince) royal grant
158 more rows

Does the Mexican president have security? ›

The Estado Mayor Presidencial — EMP (English: Presidential General Staff) was the institution charged with protecting and safeguarding the President of Mexico, the First Lady of Mexico and their immediate families.

Can the Mexican president run again? ›

Article 83 of the Mexican Constitution limits the president to a single six-year term, called a sexenio; no one who has served as president, even on a caretaker basis, is allowed to run for or serve in the office again. The new president will be sworn in on 1 October.

Why was Ciudad Real airport abandoned? ›

By 2012, the airport's financial difficulties forced the management company to file for bankruptcy, after accumulating more than €300 million of debt, eventually going into receivership. By 13 April 2012, all airport operations were shut down, and would remain so for more than 7 years.

Why does Lake Texcoco no longer exist? ›

Answer and Explanation: The Spanish drained Lake Texcoco because flooding was becoming a major problem for the city, by then being called Mexico City. Situated in a high-elevation valley, Lake Texcoco sits at the bottom of a natural drainage system in Mexico's central mountains.

Does Mexico City have two airports? ›

Mexico City, the vibrant capital of Mexico, welcomes millions of international visitors every year through its two main airports: Benito Juarez International Airport and Felipe Ángeles (Santa Lucía) International Airport.

Why did Southwest Airlines stop flying to Mexico City? ›

Southwest dropped Mexico City because Southwest limits bookings to their website only and doesn't allow third party sales and was not able to accept foreign currency as payment. That said, looking at Mexico City, most of the demand originates in Mexico City going to the US.

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