Daniel Chavez, founder of Grupo Vidanta
The businessman from Delicias, Chihuahua, and founder of Grupo Vidanta, has been one of the businessmen closest to the president since the beginning of his term, first as part of his Business Advisory Council, and then as Honorary Supervisor of the Mayan Train, another of the biggest bets of the Federal Government as far as public works are concerned.
Chávez, who was accompanied only by a member of the AIFA Sedena staff, was singled out for a conflict of interest following the announcement that José Ramón López Beltrán, son of President López Obrador, reported that he works in a company founded for the children of Chavez, KEI Partnersas a response to another conflict of interest, that of the so-called ‘Grey House’ in Houston, which was allegedly owned by a Pemex contractor, Baker Hughes, and which was occupied by López Beltrán.
The alleged conflict of interest was uncovered by Víctor Trujillo ‘Brozo’ and Carlos Loret de Mola in early February. Prior to the official inauguration of AIFA, a group of people with banners launched slogans against journalists.
CEO of Aeromexico
Although in previous years he had taken a critical position against the construction of an airport at the Santa Lucía military base, Andrés Conesa, who was recently ratified as the president and general director of Aeroméxico, appeared at the airport.
“Aeroméxico (…) has a network model. We need to operate in a single airport”, he stated in October 2019, in a panel before some of the largest players in the airline industry in the region, organized by the Latin American Air Transport Association (ALTA).
“It makes no sense to operate in two so close, changing passengers, taking a 15-kilometer jump and segmenting operations raises costs. For a low-cost airline it might make sense to be based at another airport, but for us it is key and fundamental to operate in a hub that it be competitive with other connection centers such as Miami, Dallas, Panama, Bogotá”.
But after unexpectedly confirming, in early March, that Aeroméxico would finally operate from the new AIFA, the airline officially opened flight AM890 to Villahermosa, Tabasco, at 6:53 a.m., one of the two routes that the company operates in the new facilities, as well as another to Mérida, Yucatán.
Although some directors like Conesa seem to have changed their minds, other attendees at the inauguration have remained skeptical about the project. This is the case of Cuitláhuac Gutiérrez, country manager of the International Air Transport Association (IATA, for its acronym in English), and Peter Cerdá, vice president for the Americas of the same organization, who even in recent months questioned the effectiveness of AIFA as an international airport compared to the current International Airport of Mexico City (AICM).
“The AICM has to continue to be the international airport, where most of the connectivity in the country will be maintained,” he told Expansion at an ALTA forum in October 2021.”[El AICM] it is the one that is closest to the city, there is infrastructure, because we have to remember: public roads are important; for the international airport, where people arrive from outside the country, there must be roads to be able to circulate to all parts of the city”.
Directors of some of the companies most criticized by President López Obrador, such as Emilio Azcárraga Jean, president of the board of directors of Grupo Televisa, also attended the parade of private initiative attendees.
After the inauguration of the AIFA, magnate Carlos Slim spoke favorably regarding the construction time of the new airport. However, he considered that the current Mexico City International Airport (AICM) should not be neglected.
“There is the Toluca Airport, and this one, the time it’s over is spectacular. But we need to improve the airport a lot in Mexico,” he told the media.
Day 1: Felipe Ángeles International Airport begins the flight