This new airport was designed to replace the current Mexico City International Airport (Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez) to accommodate increasing numbers of passengers. The New Mexico City International Airport - Nuevo Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México (NAICM) - was spearheaded by outgoing Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto. Why build New Mexico City International airport? The Mexican government was set to fund 60 per cent of the project with the remaining 40% from bank loans and debt security. Obrador, who took office in December 2018, was concerned about the cost. His decision to cancel the Texcoco project generated savings of approximately 125 billion pesos (US$6.2 billion). He pointed out that building an airport instead at the Santa Lucía Air Force base, north of the capital will cost 75 billion pesos (US$3.7 billion). Obrador, who stated during his 2018 presidential campaign that he would cancel the New Mexico City International airport project, explained that the cancellation will cost 100 billion pesos (US$5 billion). Why was the New Mexico City International airport cancelled? “The best public business we’ve done has been not to build the Texcoco airport, estimated at 300 billion pesos,” Obrador claimed, at a recent press conference, about his decision to cancel the US$15 billion project. The first phase was expected to open in 2020 that would feature three runways and include a terminal to accommodate 68 million passengers per year. Work commenced on the New Mexico City International airport project at the site of an ancient lakebed in Texcoco, with 30% completed before it was abandoned. What happened to the New Mexico City airport project? Their design proposal, serving six runways, for a lightweight gridshell structure that forms the walls and roof of a 555,000m2 terminal. Foster, a key figure in British modernist architecture, and Mexican businessman Romero designed the airport in response to a competition and were selected as winners in 2014.