The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) have granted NAIA Consortium original proponent status (OPS) for its unsolicited proposal to rehabilitate, upgrade, expand, operate, and maintain the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for 15 years.
The unsolicited proposal, which was submitted to DOTr and MIAA last February 12, aims to transform NAIA into a regional airport hub and expand its capacity in order to meet the anticipated growth in passenger traffic driven by the strong economies of the Philippines and the region.
“We are very grateful to the DOTr and MIAA for granting the consortium the OPS as it triggers a series of steps we need to work on to make this project happen. The NAIA Consortium looks forward to working closely with the DOTr and MIAA to progress this initiative. We are committed to see this project through and to follow the proper legal processes,” NAIA Consortium spokesperson Jose Emmanuel Reverente said in a statement.
“We remain focused on our commitment to deliver to our country a significantly improved NAIA and are prepared to start work immediately after the airport is turned over to the consortium. Our fellow Filipinos can expect a better airport experience as early as the third year from the time we commence rehabilitation work,” he added.
DOTr, in a separate statement, said it is finalizing the terms of reference and completing all the project’s documentary requirements, to be submitted to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)-Investment Coordination Committee (ICC). After ICC, the project needs approval from the NEDA Board chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte, which will then be followed by a Swiss challenge in which other parties can challenge the consortium’s proposal.
NAIA Consortium is composed of seven of the largest conglomerates in the country namely, Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corporation, Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corporation, Filinvest Development Corporation, JG Summit Holdings, Inc., and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation.
The P102-billion proposal involves expanding and interconnecting the existing terminals of NAIA, upgrading airside facilities, developing commercial facilities to increase airline and airport efficiencies, enhancing passenger comfort and experience, and elevating the status of NAIA as the country’s premier international gateway. These improvements, the consortium said, will be implemented with minimal disruption to ongoing airport operations.
The project, the consortium added, supports the government’s Build, Build, Build infrastructure program with its plan to develop NAIA into a world-class facility and a regional air transport hub by upgrading its airside, landside, and air navigation support—“building on the gains already achieved by the DOTr in terms of improving the traffic of aircraft movements on its runways.”
Aside from NAIA Consortium, a consortium of Megawide Construction Corporation and India’s GMR Infrastructure Ltd. has also submitted its unsolicited proposal to decongest and rehabilitate NAIA for an estimated project cost of US$3 billion (about P156 billion).
