The second commercial airport in the Mexican capital has officially been in operation since Monday. Felipe Angeles Airport has the code NLU and is located about 50 kilometers northeast of Mexico City. It is not the major airport whose construction was canceled in 2018.

Originally, a completely new airport was to be built. However, the project was controversial and was canceled after a change of government in 2018 and is now vegetating as a ruin. Instead, an existing military airport was expanded. This should now relieve Benito Juárez Airport (MEX).

According to government information, the expansion of the Santa Lucía military airport has saved around 5,5 billion euros compared to the originally planned major airport. The NLU was officially opened on Monday. The airlines Volaris, Viva Aerobus, Aero Mexico Connect and Conviasa currently fly to this airport.

However, the civilian expansion of the military base has not gone entirely without criticism. The construction project was organized by the armed forces, with the manual labor being subcontracted. According to local media reports, there are allegations of corruption.