Local, international firms to assist DOTC on NAIA rehab

MANILA, Philippines - Top local and international companies would assist the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) in rehabilitating the 30-year-old Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal I with minimal expense to the government.

DOTC Secretary Manuel Roxas II said that being a former Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship fellow enabled him to tap his contacts abroad and a team from Singapore’s Changi Airports International would come to the country for a structural audit of the NAIA Terminal I and share technical assistance on how best to undertake a structural and aesthetic upgrade of the facility for free.

Joel Lacsamana, DOTC communications officer, said the DOTC only had to shoulder the airfare, accommodations and miscellaneous expenses of the six-man team that arrived last Monday to conduct the audit.

Aside from Changi Airports International team, Lacsamana said that top local architectural firm Leandro V. Locsin & Associates has agreed to come in as the lead design group to plan and execute the upgrade on a pro bono basis or for free.

DOTC consultant Jose Aliling and his architectural firm, Jose Aliling & Associates, will also join the rehabilitation team that will undertake the makeover, also for free.

“The P1.1-billion budget will all be spent on the actual construction work and other infrastructure and furniture needs that will arise, a minimal portion will go to consultancy fees or expenses. Everybody’s coming in mainly on a pro bono basis,” Lacsamana said.

Roxas said that the consultants of the Changi Airports International would provide key technical assistance in rehabilitating the old terminal facility.

“We recognize Changi Airport’s international reputation as the number one airport in the world,” Roxas said.

“This gives us confidence that cooperating with Changi Airport will reap positive results, particularly in line with our goal of delivering an efficient, distinctively Filipino, and customer-friendly airport for all travelers who will use NAIA T1 in the near future,” Roxas added.

Roxas met the six-man team from Changi Airports International upon their arrival at the NAIA Terminal 1.

The team was led by a Filipino expatriate in Singapore, Jose V.A Pantangco, senior vice president of Changi Airports International.

The Changi Airport team will inspect and analyze key facilities and areas of NAIA T1, and study passenger flows in order to provide DOTC-MIAA with technical assistance on functional design and systems improvement.

DOTC will get a full report of the team’s findings in early January.

“This is just the initial step we are undertaking to identify key areas at T1 that urgently need rehabilitation from an international point of view,” said Roxas.

The visiting Changi team is a mix of technical managers in airport passenger and cargo flow systems, terminal design, electromechanical engineering, architecture, and commercial revenue research.

“We welcome this opportunity to help the Philippine government, specifically the MIAA, to maximize its current potential in terms of serving its current and future customers better,” said Pantangco, who revealed that Singapore’s Changi Airport, consistently voted as the number one airport in the world, services 70 million passengers yearly with its expanded terminal and runway capacities.

President Aquino approved the P1.1-billion NAIA Terminal 1 Rehabilitation Plan to undertake structural and aesthetical improvements of the country’s current gateway.

Roxas had earlier announced that they have tapped the NAIA Terminal 1’s original architects, the firm of National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locson, Leandro V. Locsin & Associates to be the lead designer and architect of the makeover.

“Our experience at Changi Airport, and in other advisory projects elsewhere in Asia, Russia and Europe, is that the size of an airport is not a limitation to achieve smooth and efficient operations,” Pantangco said.

“They (LVL) are in possession of the ‘as designed’ and ‘as built’ plans and blueprints of the airport. They know the exact location of the duct works, risers, pipes, water drainages, and other electro-mechanical configurations of the facility. In short, they know the bituka (gut) of T1. We will work with them and avail of their intimate knowledge of the facility,” Roxas said earlier.

The P1.1-billion rehabilitation will include structural and aesthetic improvements of the country’s current gateway.

Of the plan’s allocated budget, approximately P500 million is provisionally set aside for aesthetics and interior design of the facility.

It will entail replacing the well-worn linoleum floorings, the ceiling and walls and partitions. Part of this is also to replace the old immigration counters and adding up to 50 percent more such counters to existing counters. Concessionaires will be relocated in order to make more room for passengers.

Another P300 million was set aside for the construction of a rapid exit taxiway (RET) to relieve runway congestion and minimize delays or waiting time for flights.

Currently, the NAIA runway system could accommodate 36 events (take-off or landing) per hour or 1 every 1 minute and 40 seconds. Presently, there are about 43 scheduled events per hour. Thus delays are inevitable. When completed, the RET will shorten runway occupancy time of an aircraft landing. It is expected to increase event capacity from 36 to 41-43 events.

DOTC is also spending P20 million for the repair and rehabilitation of all the 72 toilet facilities in T1, including fixing the lavatories, water closets, urinals and amenities.

The old airport had its last major makeover in 1996 in time for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit more than 15 years ago.

It was put into service in 1981, with original design capacity for 4.5 million passengers per year, which it reached in 1991. Today, it handles 7.3 million passengers a year.