The project to build a new terminal at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) started up again, as the Federal Government has ruled out the work to give priority to maintenance work at the capital’s airport.
“Terminal 3 is not going, it was raised a long time ago, but no, right now it is not going,” Rogelio Jiménez Pons, Undersecretary of Transportation of the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT), told the media. “It is ruled out because right now we are talking about improving existing terminals.”
The construction of Terminal 3 was announced in April 2019, as part of the Works to form the Mexico City Airport System, which also includes the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) and Toluca.
In the case of the AICM, the conversion of the Presidential Hangar into a new terminal was planned, which would add 17 new contact positions to the airport. However, by June 2020, the then Ministry of Communications and Transportation (SCT) proposed the cancellation of the work due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the airline industry.
“Due to the pandemic, the operational needs have changed,” the agency said in a June 2020 statement. “Given this situation, the SCT, considering that in March 2022 the new Felipe Ángeles International Airport will be inaugurated in Santa Lucía , State of Mexico, with an initial capacity for 20 million passengers, the additional capacity in the AICM derived from the construction of T3, would already be unnecessary, which is why it has proposed the cancellation of the project.
A few days ago, it was revealed in the media that Terminal 3 would be part of the SICT’s annual work program, without the authorities giving more details in this regard.
Regarding the maintenance of the AICM facilities, Jiménez Pons said that the work to be done is still being evaluated, since some are already being carried out in Terminal 2.
“A couple of months ago Terminal 3 was in a program, it was going to be where the presidential hangar is. Right now, possibly due to the arrangements in Terminal 2, we may have to make some adjustments in that area,” he said.
