Mexico City Santa Lucía Airport

Santa Lucía Air Force Base (IATA: NLU, ICAO: MMSM) is a military airport located in Santa Lucía, Zumpango, in the State of Mexico, Mexico.

This article is about the new civilian airport for Mexico City at Santa Lucía, on the existing military site. For other uses of "Santa Lucia airport", see Santa Lucia Airport (disambiguation). For the new airport for Mexico City that was partially built and cancelled in 2018, see Mexico City Texcoco Airport.
Santa Lucía Air Force Base

Base Aérea No. 1 Santa Lucía
Summary
Airport typePublic / Military
ServesSanta Lucía, Zumpango, State of Mexico, Mexico
Coordinates19°45′24″N 099°00′55″W
Map
MEX
Location of the airport in Mexico
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
04/22 3,500 11,483 Asphalt
Sources: MEX,[1] STV,[2]

It is the plan of the current Mexican government that a new civilian international airport for Mexico City be built on the grounds of the air force base. Construction started on October 17, 2019 with a symbolic ceremony and a short video presentation after all judicial suspensions against the airport were revoked. Two runways and a new terminal are planned during the first phase, due to open by March 21, 2022 as ordered by president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The airport will be operated by the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA) which will also receive all of the airport's earnings.[3][4][5] The new airport is to be christened General Felipe Ángeles International Airport.

Construction

On April 24, 2019, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that construction of the new airport would commence on April 29, 2019.[6] On June 12, a judge ordered the suspension of construction of the airport until environmental and cultural studies have been completed.[7] The Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) announced its approval of construction of a terminal at the new airport site on July 17, 2019. Construction officially started on October 17, 2019. President López Obrador also promised that the master plan and all information regarding the airport will be released in the coming days, saying transparency will be key in the project.[8][9] The "General Felipe Ángeles" Airport is reported to be 18.1% completed as of June 26, 2020, with 632 days to go until its planned date of completion. 23,425 civilian jobs have been created alongside 926 military laborers.[10][11]

The airport is intended to focus on low-cost and cargo airlines to help relieve Mexico City's International Airport congestion. Mexican architect Francisco Gonzalez Pulido and military general Gustavo Vallejo are in charge of airport design. The master plan is in charge of Groupe ADP and the airspace navigability studies were made by Airbus subsidiary Navblue.[12][13] The Valley of Mexico will be the first in the country where the performance-based navigation system (PBN) is used, which will allow the Felipe Ángeles International Airport, the Mexico City International Airport, and the Toluca International Airport to operate simultaneously without the operations of one impeding those of the others.[14]

Remains of six mammoths were discovered during the construction of the terminal area, in the former Lake Xaltocan. Most of the newly-discovered mammoths likely died after being trapped by mud in the ancient lake or hunted by other animals. Nothing was found that would require halting work on the airport project.[15]

Construction of the airport was considered a priority during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico. Despite social distancing and other efforts to avoid infection, at least four employees were infected with the virus and there were 37 suspected cases along with three deaths as of June 9, 2020.[16]

References
  1.  Mexico
  2. Airport information for Santa Lucía Air Force Base Num 1 at Transport Search website.
  3. "What Is Next for Mexico City Airport After Mega Project Axed?". Retrieved 2018-11-09.
  4. "Entre banderas y militares, inician obras en aeropuerto de Santa Lucía". www.milenio.com. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  5. "Va aeropuerto, revocan última suspensión contra Santa Lucía". Excélsior (in Spanish). 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  6. "Mexican president says new airport construction to start next week". Reuters. April 24, 2019. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  7. "Suspenden aeropuerto de Santa Lucía hasta que tenga permisos ambientales" [Airport of Santa Lucia is suspended until environmental permission is released]. CNN en Espanol (in Spanish). June 12, 2019. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  8. "Semarnat palomea a Santa Lucia entrega dictamen sobre el nuevo aeropuerto" [Environmental agency delivers Santa Lucia Airport construction approval], Excelsior (in Spanish), Mexico City, July 21, 2019, retrieved July 21, 2019
  9. "Garantiza AMLO transparencia en el tema de Santa Lucía". El Siglo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  10. "Así avanzan las obras del aeropuerto de Santa Lucía" [This is how the work on the airport of Santa Lucia is progressing], Milenio (in Spanish), retrieved Jan 20, 2020
  11. "¿Cómo va la construcción del aeropuerto de Santa Lucía comparada con Texcoco?" [How is the construction of Santa Lucia Airport going compared to Texcoco?]. El Financiero (in Spanish). Mar 18, 2020. Retrieved Mar 21, 2020.
  12. "BNamericas - Santa Lucía airport studies go to internatio..." BNamericas.com. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  13. "Santa Lucía se enfocaría en low-costs y carga". a21.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  14. Eduardo Murillo (Jan 29, 2020). "Tendrá tecnología de punta el aeropuerto de Santa Lucía" [The Santa Lucia airport will have cutting-edge technology]. La Jornada (in Spanish). Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
  15. News, A. B. C. "In Mexico City, experts find bones of dozens of mammoths". ABC News. Retrieved May 24, 2020. Aitken, Peter (23 May 2020). "Experts find bones of dozens of mammoths in Mexico City". Fox News. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  16. "Durante la construcción del aeropuerto de Santa Lucía, murieron al menos tres trabajadores por COVID-19". infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved June 9, 2020.



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