- Title: Mexican president delays international airport opening to 2022
- Date: 17th October 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEXICAN PRESIDENT ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR, SAYING: "We will build two runways for civil aviation in Santa Lucia in two years and a half. I was making calculations and we will inaugurate this new airport in April 2022."
- Embargoed: 31st October 2019 22:09
- Keywords: Mexico airport delay 2022 Mexico City
- Location: SANTA LUCIA, STATE OF MEXICO, MEXICO
- City: SANTA LUCIA, STATE OF MEXICO, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Reuters ID: LVA003B1HMK3R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Thursday (October 17) a commercial airport north of Mexico City will be inaugurated by April 2022, pushing back earlier target opening dates after a slew of legal hurdles slowed work on the project.
The site of the new airport is a military base slated to be expanded into an international airport that would replace a partially built, $13 billion airport that Lopez Obrador cancelled shortly after his election victory last year. At the time, he denounced the project as costly, geologically unsound and riddled with corruption.
His abrupt decision to cancel the project rattled investor confidence and sparked a sell-off in Mexican financial assets.
Speaking at an event at the Santa Lucia military base to mark the start of construction, Lopez Obrador said the project had been held back by "adversaries" who committed "legal sabotage."
(Production: Roberto Ramirez, Manuel Carrillo) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
