Mexico president kicks off new capital airport project

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador Monday symbolically launched work on a new airport for Mexico City to replace the nearly half-built $13b project he cancelled upon taking office. López Obrador promised the new Felipe Ángeles airport northeast of the capital won't exceed its budget and will save the government money even with the cancellation of the partially built airport. "It's going to resolve the problem of saturation at the current Mexico City airport , but also be an example of how you can carry out a rational, austere policy based on honesty that needs to establish itself as the way to live and the way to govern in our country," López Obrador said. The new airport — named for a general allied with revolutionary icon Pancho Villa — is at the Santa Lucia military air base and the army is in charge of getting it built for $4.1b. It is supposed to begin operating in mid-2021, though construction has not yet begun. Two new runways would be added to its existing one and the commercial airport would share the space with the military. Critics have argued that the new airport will have difficulty operating simultaneously with the existing airport, but in a report by the military, consultant Navblue said they could operate simultaneously in terms of air space.<br/>