Mexico defense ministry preps Tulum airport plans

Mexico’s defense ministry (Sedena) has started planning for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) next airport project. 

The ministry registered in the finance ministry’s (SHCP) investment portfolio a series of pre-investment studies and analyses for the Tulum international airport that will help serve Quintana Roo state once the Maya train enters operations in 2023.

Among the 33 studies and analyses to be concluded by June are the cost-benefit, socioeconomic and demand analysis, and technical studies for the masterplan, basic engineering and design of the terminal building, control tower, parking lot and a military housing complex, among others. 

The studies budget is 238mn pesos (US$12mn). 

The approach is similar to that taken for the Felipe Ángeles international airport (AIFA), which Sedena is building at the Santa Lucía military airbase in Mexico state. AMLO’s signature project crossed the 50% completion threshold this month, after works restarted in October 2019. 

Just like AIFA, the new Tulum airport will serve national and international flights and military operations, according to project documents.

Tulum airbase already has a 1,800m runway. The area was donated by Quintana Roo to navy ministry Semar in 1987. 

However, unlike the Santa Lucía project, the Tulum airport might include the private sector to reduce costs and risks, according to the documents, adding that the ministry is analyzing business models such as public-private partnerships. 

For AIFA, Sedena has not awarded any contract to the private sector and has handled all works and planning, drawing criticism from sector associations who have said the project could benefit local companies. 

Besides, the ministry has been criticized for not being as transparent regarding spending and planning. It has reserved its right to not disclose information under the pretext of national security.

Sedena will also operate the airport. 

While a date for the start of works at the Tulum terminal has not been announced, the airport should open by 2024 the latest, as tourism demand in the region is expected to grow once the Maya train starts operations.

Cancún international airport is just 118km from Tulum, but was reaching the limits of its capacity before the coronavirus outbreak. 

Aside from reducing costs, involving the armed forces in the construction and likely operation of the airport will reduce criminal activity in the region, the president said. 

Sedena and Semar will also begin the construction of the remaining two stretches of the Maya train, in Quintana Roo and Campeche states, once AIFA is completed in March 2022. 

According to government plans, the Maya train will link the airports of the region, requiring the government to allocate funds for certain modernization works. Mexican airport operator ASA operates several airports in the southeast. 

Another major project is the relocation of the Mérida airport in Yucatán state, which tourism board Fonatur wants to place closer to the train station projected for the state capital. 

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