SMA seeks to reactivate airport project with federal authorities

The project was unfinished in 2015 and so far has an airstrip 2 kilometers long by 40 meters wide

Published April 13, 2023

Federal and municipal authorities are betting on the activation of the airport project for San Miguel de Allende that was unfinished in 2015 and of which until now has an airstrip 2 kilometers long by 40 meters wide; this was confirmed by the Municipal President of San Miguel de Allende, Mauricio Trejo Pureco in an interview for Telediario Nocturno hosted by Miguel Ángel Puértolas and Tania Rocha.

The mayor said that it was in 2013 when the project of this airport began under the modality for private planes, which only required the license of the Civil Aeronautics to enter into operation; however, the project was truncated because subsequent governments did not follow up on the project.

“We took on the task of carrying out the work to generate an airport, but the FVO modality, which means, that it is an airstrip for private planes and that is also used so that air ambulances can land and take off and complement what is the infrastructure for medical tourism, but, as happens on many occasions when there is a change of Government it seems that its task is to give the tower to the plans of the government that came out, then we left a clue,” he said.

The municipal president of San Miguel de Allende said that in addition to the fact that the airport for San Miguel de Allende was not followed, the subsequent governments decided to change land use to the runway whose dimension is 2 kilometers long by 40 meters wide.

“A runway 2 kilometers long by 40 meters wide and which only needed the Civil Aeronautics license, however, the Government that followed us seemed not to have priority this project and not only damaged what is the asphalt tape of the runway but also changed land use and made it housing, ” Indicated.

Just this week the Secretariat of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport (SICT), reported that it is analyzing the construction of 3 new airports in the country, which would be located in Costa Alegre, Jalisco; San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato; and Ensenada, Baja California.

The undersecretary of transportation of the SICT, Rogelio Jiménez Pons, reported that the public investment that the sector will have is 5 thousand 784 million pesos for this 2023, of which a part will be destined to eight projects of Airports and Auxiliary Services (ASA) and a total of 17 works in the International Airport of Mexico City (AICM); while 4 thousand 188 million will be used to carry out construction and modernization projects in the terminals of Ciudad del Carmen, Puebla, San José del Cabo, Cancun and Monterrey.

“If it is a priority to activate some small important airports, whether economic, for the industry they have or tourism, then, they come together and find projects of both the Federal Government and the Municipal Government to rescue what is the San Miguel de Allende Airport project […] when I talk about the rescue of the project because it is to do all the actions that we have to carry out to reactivate it and that this time it is a fact, it does not mean, I do not see that we lack little time, on the contrary we barely go to half of the Administration and we have as much time as possible, ” said the Municipal President of San Miguel de Allende.

For the operation of this airport, the mayor said that it is necessary to put perimeter back on the runway, of the material that is decided, in addition to that, the license of the Civil Aeronautics must be obtained, as well as lower high voltage overhead lines.

“The municipality of San Miguel de Allende has the money, the Federal Government also has the money, so the resource is not what worries us, what interests us is that there continue to be those two projects in the same direction, such as the federal project and the municipal project, right now Undersecretary Rogelio Jiménez Ponce carries out this initiative to activate these airports, So, clearly we are working to generate an airport in San Miguel de Allende that will not be a commercial airport, it will be for private flights, “he concluded.

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