ACCIONA : to construct terminal for Mexico City’s new international airport

Grupo Aeroportuario de la Ciudad de México (GACM) today awarded the consortium that comprises ACCIONA, through ACCIONA Infrastructure, and the Mexican companies Grupo Carso, GIA, Prodemex, La Peninsular, ICA and the Spanish company FCC, the contract to construct the terminal of Mexico City's new international airport.

The ACCIONA consortium submitted the best technical and financial proposal of the three tendered bids, for a total of 84.828 billion pesos (around 3.930 billion euros).

ACCIONA, together with its partners, will construct the terminal for the future airport with an approximate floor area of 743,000 m2, distributed over four levels, which is expected to serve some 68 million passengers.

The building will be based on an X-shaped design created by the architects Norman Foster and Fernando Romero. It combines cutting-edge architectural features based on sustainability and functionality to ensure the smooth flow of passengers through the airport's transit zones as well as its shopping and restaurant areas.

The terminal is housed under a continuous lightweight membrane, with an almost aerodynamic silhouette, which forms the walls and the roof, supported by 21 large funnel-shaped columns. The modular mesh structure is extremely light in response to the requirements of the site and to minimise its environmental impact.

Both the materials (primarily steel, aluminium and glass) and the design are intended to make the most of the natural light and to facilitate natural ventilation, reducing energy consumption. The building will also be self-sufficient in terms of power and water. The new terminal will include specific features compatible with LEED Platinum certification (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design).

The project also includes construction of 95 contact positions for aircraft with the terminal building and 68 remote boarding gates, departure and arrivals lounges, a baggage reclaim area and service hubs (mechanical, electrical, plumbing and sanitation installations, fire prevention and the baggage system).

The construction of the terminal is the largest contract in the Mexican government's plan to construct the new international airport for Mexico City, one of the largest infrastructure projects currently underway in Latin America, with an initial-phase investment of 180 billion pesos (around €8.33 billion).

ACCIONA has a long history of airport construction, including terminal buildings, runways and control towers. In recent years, it has been involved in major airport projects in Spain and abroad.

ACCIONA constructed the pioneering T4 terminal for Barajas airport in Madrid, which was designed to serve up to 10,400 passengers at peak times and was opened in 2006. The building has a floor-to-ceiling transparent glass façade and a metallic roof in the shape of a bird's wing. Covering more than 47

,000 m² over six levels, the terminal has all of the services of a modern airport building, including simultaneous check-in, security controls, boarding and disembarking areas, baggage reclaim, customs control and a shopping area, among others.

ACCIONA has also carried out other major projects, such as the new terminal for Barcelona airport, designed by the architect Ricardo Bofill; construction of the new terminal for Alicante airport; the western satellite terminal of Fiumicino airport in Rome (Italy); and a new three kilometre runway at Málaga airport.

This new contract will further strengthen ACCIONA's presence in Mexico where it has operated since the 1970s and constructed major infrastructure projects such as the Ixtapaluca highway interchange that connects the State of Mexico with the State of Morelos without passing through Mexico City, or construction of Nogales Hospital, the sixth hospital that ACCIONA has constructed for the Mexican Social Security Institute.

ACCIONA's current projects in the country include the Jala-Puerto Vallarta highway, the new headquarters of the Supreme Court of Justice and three thermal power stations for the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) in Baja California, among others.