MIAA relocating offices to former 88 Airport Lounge

MANILA, Philippines — The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) is relocating its operations to a former hotel close to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), as it must vacate its current base to give way for the new operator of the gateway.

MIAA is bidding out a P6.54-million contract to renovate the former 88 Airport Lounge in Pasay City, as it will become the new office of the agency regulating NAIA.

MIAA will conduct a pre-bid conference on Thursday and it will close submissions and open the bids on Feb. 6.

The project involves the civil, electrical and mechanical renovation of the facility and it has to be completed within 60 days. The target, MIAA said, is to transform the former 88 Airport Lounge into a fully functional office space.

MIAA said it has to transfer offices in compliance with the P170.6-billion concession signed by the government with the New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC) led by San Miguel Corp. The deal turns over the operations and maintenance of NAIA from MIAA to NNIC.

MIAA said at least 15 of its offices are standing on spaces covered by the concession, and all of them have to be moved to the former 88 Airport Lounge.

Right now, MIAA is tasked to regulate NNIC and oversee NAIA, and the agency has reassigned some of its employees to NNIC to minimize job losses.

MIAA also remains part of the decision-making body Manila Slot Coordination Committee that manages airline slots in NAIA.

At NAIA, NNIC is leading the way for multiple changes to free up runway space. First reported by The STAR last year, NNIC is proceeding with the plan to push turboprops out of NAIA, as the airport focuses on landing and sending off larger jets for maximum efficiency.

By March 30, turboprops assigned to reach island destinations like Busuanga and Siargao will be flying out of secondary airports, such as the Clark International Airport. Turboprops are used by airlines to reach smaller towns that are served by airports with shorter runways.

Likewise, regulators plan to limit the number of slots for private flights in NAIA to one per hour, from two currently.

NNIC is mandated to achieve a number of milestones under its concession, including increasing aircraft movement to 48 an hour, from 40 at present.