5 foreign airlines to transfer to NAIA 3 next week

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) yesterday said the P1.9-billion retrofitting and rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 3 (NAIA 3) being undertaken by Japanese firm Takenaka Corp. is almost complete, paving the way for the transfer of five foreign airlines next week.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the modern passenger terminal building of NAIA 3 is about 85 percent complete and will be ready for airline operations on July 31.

“We are extremely pleased to confirm that full airline operations would begin at NAIA 3 next week. Our gateway airport will now be able to welcome 3.5 million more passengers with modern facilities every year, and NAIA 1 will now be considerably decongested to improve passenger convenience,” Abaya stressed.

He pointed out that certain systems that are non-critical to full airline operations, such as building maintenance, will be completed within the year.

Emirates, Delta Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and KLM are set to transfer to NAIA 3 once the project is completed.

Abaya said the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has announced that Delta Airlines would have its first flight out of Terminal 3 on Aug. 1, while KLM Royal Dutch Airlines would move in first week of August.

He added that Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Cathay Pacific will follow suit by the end of next month.

“These five carriers have the highest volume of international flights coming in and out of NAIA, so we look forward to giving them a new home,” he added.

With the transfer, the passenger volume at the congested NAIA 1 would be reduced from the current eight million to the airport’s design capacity of 4.5 million passengers.

Abaya explained that the project was awarded to Takenaka back in 1997 and was supposed to be completed in 2002 but legal issues related to the bidding process delayed it.

NAIA 3 opened in 2008 but was only 52 percent operational.

The government was able to convince Takenaka to complete the project regardless of the ongoing court cases.

“President Aquino’s daang matuwid promise calls for political will to prevail in order to deliver the government services our people deserve, so we made sure that 17 years and 4 administrations later, the whole Terminal 3 facility may be enjoyed by the public within his term,” Abaya said.

“Takenaka’s $40-million contract began in August last year. Over the past year, the Japanese firm has undertaken completion works for systems such as flight information displays, computer terminals, gate coordination, landing bridges and fire protection systems,” he said.