The incoming Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would honour the results of an informal referendum and scrap the construction of a new airport in Mexico City, Reuters has reported.
Lopez Obrador is set to take office on December 1 and previously expressed concerns about the fairness of tenders and the general sense of building a new USD13 billion airport in the capital. The airport is already about one-third ready and was due to open in 2020, replacing the capacity-constrained and outdated México City International.
The business community expressed concerns about the plan, calling it "populist" and pointing out that the current airport is woefully inadequate for the metropolis.
The company tasked with building the new airport said it would honour all commitments and contracts through November 30.
Only about 2% of the eligible voters voted in the referendum, which was organised by Lopez Obrador's supporters and was not legally binding.
The incoming President plans to instead expand the existing Toluca airport, located some 40 kilometres away from the existing airport, and convert the military México City Felipe Angeles airport into a dual-use facility.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Aeroméxico, Interjet, and Volaris are the largest operators at the existing airport and together offer three quarters of the available capacity out of the gateway.
