By Kylie Madry
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Uber is working with Mexican authorities to bring service to and from the capital’s newest airport, which formally opened Monday with just a few flights and lacking key transportation to the infamously traffic-plagued megacity.
The ride-hailing giant’s Mexican unit said in a statement to Reuters that it hopes to offer service “in the near future” to the Felipe Angeles International Airport, approximately 45 km (28 miles) north of Mexico City’s long-standing international hub.
The airport is the first of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s signature infrastructure projects to be completed, three years after he scrapped a $13-billion, partially built airport that he argued was riddled with the previous administration’s corruption.
The president has said that the new site will ease congestion at the existing airport, though only a handful of daily flights are operating and a promised train connection has yet to be completed.
Lopez Obrador set off for the airport’s inauguration around 5 a.m. Monday, local outlets reported, after saying he would arrive from the city’s densely packed downtown in just 40 minutes.
One traveler lamented it took two hours to arrive at the airport Monday, after her maps application sent her down dirt roads around the airport.
(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Alistair Bell)
