French airport operator Vinci is set to invest US $820 million in renovating the Monterrey International Airport (MTY), Nuevo León governor Samuel García said on Monday.
The investment follows the firm’s purchase of 29.99% of the Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte (OMA) share capital. With the acquisition valued at US $1.17 billion, Vinci became the largest shareholder in OMA, which manages 13 airports in Mexico including the MTY and the airports at Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Culiacán, and Mazatlán.
Nuevo León governor Samuel García shared videoclips of his meeting with Vinci executives on Instagram. Vinci did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the news agency Reuters.
However, a presentation shared on García’s Instagram said that Vinci considered the Monterrey airport — which represents about half of OMA’s passenger traffic — to be “the best alternative to Mexico City airport” with “great potential.”
Earlier this month, Vinci announced on its website it would start direct flights between Monterrey and the cities of Los Angeles, Houston, Detroit and Austin, “to address growing demand for domestic travel in the Americas’ third most populated country.”
Reuters also reported that the company is looking to “engage in strong partnerships” with Mexican airlines Aeroméxico and Viva Aerobus, to boost their customer base.
In addition to Mexico, Vinci Airports also has operations in the United States, Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. Once Vinci has finished taking over operations at its newest airports in the African island nation of Cabo Verde, the company will operate more than 70 airports worldwide.
With reports from Reuters and El Economista
