Super consortium readies bid for NAIA rehab

MANILA, Philippines — Seven of the country’s biggest conglomerates have formally formed a super consortium that seeks to develop the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) into a global gateway at par with the world’s best airports.

They will tap foreign partners as they seek to rehabilitate, operate and maintain NAIA through an unsolicited proposal which will be submitted to the Department of Transportation.

In separate disclosures yesterday, conglomerates Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Ayala Corp., Alliance Global, Lucio Tan Group, Filinvest Land Inc., JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. said their respective infrastructure subsidiaries agreed to form a consortium.

“The consortium believes that the NAIA will continue to be a strategic gateway for our country and a key hub of airline operations for many more years. The consortium will work with foreign technical partners with proven world class track records and experiences in airport operations to improve, upgrade, and enhance the operational efficiencies of NAIA covering both landside and airside facilities,” the consortium said.

They said that like other countries, the Philippines could benefit from having an in-city and out-city airport such as Tokyo and London.

“Numerous foreign and local experts have highlighted the advantage of keeping an airport within city limits. Like other major cities in the world, experts recommend an in-city airport and another one outside the metropolis to complement it. Megacities that benefit from a two-airport set-up include Tokyo (Haneda and Narita) and London (Gatwick and Heathrow),” they said.

They aim to upgrade NAIA to accommodate an additional 11 million passengers from the current 39.5 million and increase its hourly aircraft movements (landing and take-off) from 40 movements per hour to 48 movements per hour.

“The unsolicited proposal is intended to help accelerate the government’s Build Build Build program. Augmenting NAIA’s capacity is the quickest way to address airport congestion while other airports are being developed outside Metro Manila. The consortium believes that this approach promotes greater economic benefit and sustainability for the whole country,” it said.

NAIA, which traces its history to as early as 1948, was built to handle 30 million passengers but is currently handling nearly 40 million passengers.