Mexico president announces $9.2 billion airport project for capital, to quadruple capacity

Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto gives his second state-of-the-nation address inside the National Palace in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)The Associated Press
Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto, center, acknowledges the crowd as he arrives to give his second state-of-the-nation address inside the National Palace in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)The Associated Press
Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto gives his second state-of-the-nation address inside the National Palace in Mexico City, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s president is announcing the construction of a new international airport for the capital that will quadruple the capacity of the current one.

Enrique Pena Nieto says the facility will have six runways and be capable of handling 120 million passengers a year. It will cost an estimated $9.2 billion, according to a written report delivered to Mexico’s Congress.

More than a decade ago, protests led authorities to scrap a proposed new airport on the outskirts of Mexico City. The new proposal is to build on federally owned land next to the existing airport.

Pena Nieto spoke Tuesday during his second state-of-the-nation address.