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Plan to add runways in NAIA could be cancelled, NAIA Consortium says

The plan to add more runways at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) could be cancelled after the Department of Transportation (DOTr) rejected NAIA Consortium’s 35-year concession period proposal.

DOTr said the concession period is long, which would not allow the government to make decisions if necessary, reported ABS-CBN.

“It will unduly tie the hands of the government in any decision that it will wish to take in the future that will be the most appropriate use for the very valuable land,” DOTr undersecretary Ruben Reinoso said.

NAIA Consortium, composed of seven of the biggest companies in the country, which submitted a proposal to upgrade, operate and maintain NAIA for more than 35 years, said they are open to shorten the concession period based on the recommendations of DOTr.

However, a shorter concession period means exclusion of the plan to add runways in the airport.

“The secretary has mentioned several periods. He has mentioned 8-10 years or 15 years. We are looking at those time periods. A shorter time period will probably not allow us to pursue the construction and operation of a third runway,” spokesperson of NAIA Consortium Jose Emmanuel Reverente said.

Despite this, NAIA Consortium is still determined to increase the airport’s capacity to 65 million passengers per year.

The NAIA is composed of AC Infrastructure Holdings, Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc., Alliance Global Group, Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings, Inc., and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

The group’s plan is divided into two phases.

The first phase includes the general improvement of the NAIA Terminals 1,2, 3, and 4; while the second phase involves the development of a reclaimed area in Manila Bay to a third runway and another terminal, an addition that the conglomerates deemed necessary.

The new terminal and runway will be connected to the current NAIA terminals through a train similar to Light Rail Transit (LRT).

The group also announced its proposal to connect the NAIA terminals to LRT-1 and another proposal to establish Metro Manila subway to make the airport more accessible.

The group plans to double the floor area of the airport from 364,000 square meters to 263,000 square meters.

If the proposal will be approved, the passenger capacity of NAIA will rise to 47 million by 2020, and 65 million by 2022.

Moreover, larger check-in and baggage areas and centralized immigration and security zones will also be constructed in Terminals 1 and 3.

The super-consortium proposed a budget of P350-billion for the project.

PHOTO FROM: Business World

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