Tulum Airport (Aeropuerto de la Riviera Maya) project is suspended again

 

Last friday (September 2nd, 2011), the Mexican federal secretary of Transport and Communications Dionisio Pérez Jácome announced the Tulum Airport project will be suspended again, along with other four important infrastructure projecs in Mexico (a port in Baja California and suburban trains in Mexico City).

The official reason behind this surprising decision was that “all the projects required a new return on investment analysis”.  Other off-the-record versions indicate the Mexican Government could be embarking in an austerity plan do the shaky status of the global financial markets, while other say the lobby from ASUR, the operator of the Cancún airport may have played a role.

The Mayan Riviera Airport (Tulum Airport) project to be re-launched in July


Expectation for the re-launch of the Mayan Riviera Airport project is rising as Quintana Roo’s Governor, Mr Roberto Borge Angulo announced that he is expecting the head of the SCT (the federal Communitations and Transport secretariat) Dionisio Pérez-Jácome Friscione to visit the Mayan Riviera before the end of the month. The main purpose of the visit would be the airport project announcement.

Mr Angulo also commented on the recent approval by the Environment Secretariat (SEMARNAT) of a new highway, a 26 km (16 miles) detour that will circumvent the Tulum town and will have a 5.7km (3.5 miles) deviation leading into the new airport.

The Tulum Airport (Aeropuerto de la Riviera Maya) not dead

The Tulum (Mexico) Airport project is back and actively pushed by the Quintana Roo’s (the Mexican State where Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum are located) Roberto Borge Angulo.  He had just (June 13th, 2011) had a meeting with the head of the SCT, the Federal Government transport secretariat, Mr. Dionisio Pérez Jácome to claim for a renewed bidding process.  A former bidding process was declared “void” in May 2011 as according to the SCT none of the bidders complied with the technical requirements asked by the Federal Government.

Despite some people are suspicious the project could be a victim of a political struggle (the state is run by the PRI party, while the Federal Government is in the hands of the PAN party), the Tulum/Riviera Maya Airport project was sponsored by Juan Carlos Pereyra Escudero, a PRI state representative and supported unanimously by all the other parties in the Quintana Roo state, including the PAN.