The president confirmed that the inauguration will occur in December of 2023.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said at his Thursday morning press conference that construction of the Tulum International Airport is twenty percent complete.
“We have already completed the restoration of Chetumal, and development on the Tulum airport has begun. This will be a first-class international airport, and it will be inaugurated in December of next year.”
He recalled that the Olmeca Maya Mexica corporation, which is administered by the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena), would operate the Mayan Train, the Felipe Angeles airport in Mexico City, Chetumal, Palenque, Tulum, and Campeche, while the one in Ciudad del Carmen will be run by the Navy. The military organization will also oversee the new airline, which will be known as Mexicana de Aviación.
Leaving these projects to the Sedena is intended to prevent their privatization, as they were constructed with public funds. During the six-year presidency of Vicente Fox, the Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo (Fonatur) sold land five minutes away from Cancun International Airport for seven pesos per square meter, according to López Obrador.
“Not even the price of a square meter of carpet, plus mangroves, and no pseudo-environmentalist appeared. How then shall we leave it to Fonatur? It cannot withstand the first innuendo or cannon blast “, asserted López Obrador.
Regarding the Mayan Train, he indicated that from Merida to Chetumal (sections 3, 4, 5, and 6) the train will be electrified, while it will also be able to run on ecologically friendly low-sulfur diesel from the Deer Park refinery.
Two combined cycle plants are being constructed in Yucatán, in Mérida and Valladolid, to power the railway.
