CAAP prefers new runways over proposed $10-B airport

MANILA, Philippines — The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) believes it is a more feasible option to construct more runways to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) than to have a new airport in Manila.

In a television interview aired over UNTV Wednesday night, CAAP Deputy Director General John Andrews said that billions of pesos will be saved if government focuses on the improvement of NAIA rather than construct another gateway, as proposed by San Miguel Corp. (SMC) president Ramon Ang to President Benigno Aquino III last week.

Bird's eye view of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport runways. Click the map to zoom in. Google Maps

Andrews said that additional runways will cost only P36 billion as opposed to a new airport project on a reclaimed area in Manila Bay costing $10 billion.

Constructing a parallel runway, meanwhile, will only cost P2 billion and can be completed in two years. He said that the SMC-proposed airport can take as much as 15 years to be built including the time-consuming reclamation of areas in Las Piñas and Parañaque

Parallel runways will furthermore boost the frequency of flights from NAIA "from less than 40 to between 60 and 70 per hour," decongesting 80 percent of air traffic especially for commercial flights.

Also read: 2nd runway at NAIA eyed

"It will be the same length as the present Manila main runway, but that is 200 meters to the side, so you can have simultaneous take off and landing," Andrews said.

Andrews said in a separate television interview that the parallel runway can accommodate Airbus 321 long haul aircrafts as well as lower models consisting a bulk of the existing air traffic.

He said that carriers will also be saving P10 billion per year in terms of fuel consumption and maintenance of planes with the new runways in place.

A new airport in the congested capital, meanwhile, may adversely affect the already bad traffic situation for motorists in the area, Andrews added. - Camille Diola