Wilson Tieng-led group submits new proposal for Sangley airport

MANILA, Philippines — The Tieng-led consortium seeking to build an airport off Sangley Point in Cavite has submitted a new unsolicited proposal for the development of a new regional airport hub to be named Philippine Sangley International Airport, industry sources said.

Sought for comment on this, businessman Wilson Tieng told The STAR yesterday that a new plan was submitted but he declined to provide additional details, saying the technical people in charge of the plan is still out of the country.

“It’s the same family and it’s the same group,” he merely said.

Tieng said the Philippines would benefit from having additional and better airports.

“We really need new airports…I am excited,” Tieng said.

Tieng said the group is hoping that the Duterte administration will consider its proposal.

In 2016, ARRC with Belle Corp., the high-end property of Henry Sy’s SM Group, submitted a $50 billion  proposal to build an airport and seaport project off Sangley Point in Cavite.

Under the previous proposal, the planned airport would have a capacity of 50 million passengers and was envisioned to accommodate passenger traffic well into the year 2050.

The project will be built in phases, starting with the reclamation of some 2,500 hectares of land near Sangley Point,  the former naval station of the US Navy.

ARRC is led by the Tieng family, who has investments in a television network through Solar Entertainment Corp.

The new proposal, meanwhile,  is envisioned to be an Asian airport hub that can accommodate 120 million passenger per annum once fully developed.

Components of the project include the rehabilitation of the Danilo Atienza Air Base for use as a general aviation airport to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) during the project development phase.

There will also be reclamation of 2,500 hectares to be used for the airport infrastructure and commercial development to complement the project.

The airport is envisioned to be located north of the Sangley peninsula on reclaimed land and will be designed with two parallel independent runways and sufficient airside and terminal capacity to accommodate future demand for domestic, international and transfer traffic, not only for the Philippines but for all South East Asia.

Sources said the project supports the government’s multi airport strategy as it complements other airport infrastructure projects of the government such as Clark International Airport and the redevelopment of NAIA.

The expected development cost of the airport component alone is $12 billion with a concession period of 50 years, sources also said.

“The project will be conducted at no cost to the government.  The country will have a new gateway that can accommodate the projected airport traffic as it seeks to increase tourist arrivals and encourage investment,” according to details of the proposal.

Furthermore, the project will free up NAIA and allow government to redevelop a prime property.

The new proposal was submitted following the P350 billion offer made by seven of the country’s biggest conglomerates to redevelop NAIA, the country’s main but already congested gateway.