In the air: The fate of Mexico City's new international airport
True to his campaign promise, Mexico's president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) announced his decision to carry out a public consultation to decide whether to continue with construction of the 280bn-peso (US$14.4bn) new international airport for Mexico City being built east of the capital or should it be replaced by two runways at the Santa Lucía military base and connections to the existing Benito Juárez international airport.
Before the consultation, scheduled for the end of October, AMLO and his infrastructure team will conduct a series of public debates to present the results of the analysis they carried out on the pros and cons of each option.
BNamericas spoke with AMLO's communications and transport (SCT) minister-designate, Javier Jiménez Espriú, to learn more about the consultation process and the two options.
BNamericas: Many people have questioned the use of a consultation to define the future of the Mexico City airport. What is your argument in favor of this method?
Jiménez Espriú: The new government is going to embark on a new way of acting called participatory democracy. People are going to participate and give their opinion on big infrastructure projects. We don't agree with the people who say that the location of the airport is a technical issue and that those who don't have technical knowledge cannot comment.
We're presenting viable options and the population has the right to say what to do. Similar consultation processes have been carried out in France [for the proposal to build an airport in Nantes], Berlin [to decide whether to close the Tegel airport] and in the US.
We're sure that Mexicans will act in the most reasonable way because they will be duly informed about the two options prior to the consultation.
BNamericas: When will the mechanism to be used for the consultation be decided?
Jiménez Espriú: Everything will depend on the development of the round tables and the conclusions, as well as the comments of the technical groups that are reviewing our opinion and that in a few days will give us their opinions. As the president-elect said, the consultation could be carried out by installing ballot boxes at specific locations or through a multiple-choice poll, or a combination of both.
BNamericas: In addition to the engineering associations, has another trade group or organization asked you to review the opinion?
Jiménez Espriú: Yes, we had a meeting with the members of the business coordinating council, which was attended by representatives of some 20 chambers. We gave them all the information and they're analyzing it. They will give us their opinion soon to be able to discuss their comments on September 8 or 9 in the discussion tables.
BNamericas: Is there a preliminary timetable that details how the round tables will be held?
Jiménez Espriú: Between September 8 and October 28 [when the consultation will be held] we will organize the tables that are necessary. The program is under development because we're waiting for the opinions of the different associations to know which are the most controversial issues, the ones that will be discussed the most. We're not going to organize all the discussion tables. We hope that the community organizes the tables that it wants and we'll assist them to inform in an absolutely objective, transparent and impartial way about the two options, without being in favor of either of them.
BNamericas: If the majority of Mexicans choose to continue construction of the current airport, what would happen at that time?
Jiménez Espriú: We would have to do many things. It would be necessary to make savings where there are luxuries and unnecessary spending to make a functional airport, but austere. In addition we'll have to analyze how we're going to mitigate the ecological impacts that the airport will produce, as well as the effects on lake Nabor Carrillo in case construction of the airport continues. We'll have to define how we're going to act in relation to urban development, define options to connect to the airport site, since the alternatives to get there are limited.
The current airport is already saturated and that situation will continue until the new terminal is ready within four or five years, since the works are very late. So we have to look for alternatives to deal with saturation in the meantime. We would have to act promptly to organize the alternative solution.
BNamericas: Would the contracts that were already awarded be reviewed?
Jiménez Espriú: To reduce costs, the contracts would have to be revised, since those already awarded indicate specific details. If some details are going to be modified, we will have to negotiate with the contractors.
BNamericas: If Mexicans choose the Santa Lucía airport option, would the study proposed by a team of Chilean experts be carried out to confirm its viability?
Jiménez Espriú: At this moment we continue analyzing and so far all the results indicate that it is viable. But the formal study would take place only if Mexicans choose the second option.
BNamericas: What was the conclusion of the opinion that The Miter Corporation issued on the proposed Santa Lucía airport?
Jiménez Espriú: The Miter Corporation, which participated in the studies for the construction of the new airport in Texcoco, analyzed the Santa Lucía project and stated that it was not viable. After holding a meeting, the organization sent us a non-contracted study. That study says that there can be simultaneous flights [at the Benito Juárez and Santa Lucía airports], but that the frequencies of these would have to be reduced. But the technicians of our team say that there are other possible solutions to that problem. You can modify the land, or use a technology to locate the aircraft via satellite. There are new procedures to improve the governability of airports that have to do with the detection and use of spaces.
All these measures added together can improve airport conditions and improve frequencies.
In the event that Mexicans opt for the Santa Lucía airport, we would have to carry out a reengineering of the airspace. This process would take approximately one year and could be done simultaneously with other activities such as bidding processes, so as not to delay construction programs.
BNamericas: Do you have any coordination or interaction with GACM, the group that's building the new airport?
Jiménez Espriú: On July 3, the outgoing president, Enrique Peña Nieto, met with the president-elect and one of the issues they agreed upon was that we establish contact with the group from that moment, considering that the new government would be in charge of finishing the airport if construction continues. GACM began to do an engineering analysis to analyze how to reduce costs without affecting the operation of the airport. We're in close contact with them, with people from our team working with the group on what to do and what not to do.
BNamericas: When will the future of the new airport be known?
Jiménez Espriú: Although the public consultation will take place on October 28, it will take us a few days to know the final results. But by early November, and before AMLO takes office as president on December 1, we will know what the solution will be to solve the saturation problem of the current airport.
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