The project was announced in September 2014 but was canceled in late 2018 after a referendum was held stating that the new airport should be built at a different location due to how close it was to housing, rising cost and a geographical issue with the site.

Texcoco Airport was first announced by President Enrique Peña Nieto in his State of the Union Address on 2 September 2014.

[7][8] In September 2017, the Mexico City Airport Trust successfully placed US$4 billion in private debt securities for the financing of NAIM.

By 20 October 2020, the airport was expected to have one main terminal of 8,000,000 square feet (743,000 m2) and three independent runways, which would yield a capacity for 68 million passengers annually.

[6] The construction plan for the airport was developed by the global engineering and consultancy company Arup Group Limited.

When protests held by the Community Front in Defense of Land - an organization of locals who were to be displaced - were violently repressed,[16] the new airport was cancelled.

Some local groups in Atenco and nearby communities claimed that the federal government had acquired the land through deception and strong-arming, and small-scale protests took place after the announcement.

[18][19] The airport plan drew negative reactions across social media with the new movement, #YoPriefieroElLago,[20] in which the distribution of infographics and "fast facts" spread across various platforms.

[24] On 10 July 2020, it was alleged that Grupo Gilbert had fraudulently won possession of 49,000 tons of steel that had originally been designated for the NAIM.