ATO, Piatco form panel to inspect Terminal 3

The Air Transportation Office (ATO) and the Philippine International Airport Terminals Co. (Piatco) have agreed to form an inter-agency committee to assess the safety features of the new passenger terminal of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Former ambassador Guillermo Cunanan, newly appointed general manager of NAIA Terminal 3, said the committee will meet with representatives of the ATO, Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to discuss the safety and security features of the new passenger terminal.

"The committee will tackle head-on all issues with a view to resolving them at once so as not to further put any roadblock to the projected opening of the new international passenger terminal," Cunanan said.

He said the committee will include representatives from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), the terminal’s designated quality assurance inspector Japan Air Consultants, the project’s general contractor Takenaka Corp., ATO and Piatco, the terminal’s developer-concessionaire.

Cunanan said the committee will test-run and review all the terminal’s safety features to remove any doubt on its "air-worthiness" and ensure that it would open on Nov. 26 as scheduled.

ATO chief Adelberto Yap said an actual test of the terminal, involving a 747 jumbo jet with a full load of passengers and weight capacity, will take place early next month to determine the operability of all the required facilities, including the ramp and the aero-bridges.

Cunanan also stressed Terminal 3 would fully comply with FAA’s security requirement and that work is already underway on the facility’s perimeter fence which is expected to be completed in a matter of weeks.

Cunanan said the perimeter fence was one of the concerns aired by the US FAA which quietly conducted an inspection of the terminal two weeks ago.

In response to the US FAA’s concerns, the ATO issued an "order of no movement of aircraft" until after it has assessed the safety features of the new terminal which can accommodate more than three times the number of passengers handled annually by the NAIA Terminal 2.