THE auction for the multibillion-dollar contract to build an aviation hub that would replace the aging and dilapidated Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) in Manila will soon be staged, as the feasibility study for the deal being crafted by Japanese consultants is nearing completion.
Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) has vowed to present in June the final study for the $11-billion airport to be built in Sangley Point in Cavite.
“Jica is supposed to give the study to us in June. Then we will go through the approval process,” he said.
The approval process will start from the various committees of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), such as the Investment Coordination Committee, the Cabinet Committee and the Neda Board, which is chaired by President Aquino.
“But, realistically, the first thing there will be a reclamation. First, you need to build a platform where the airport will be built on,” the transport chief said.
The Philippine Reclamation Authority, the Cabinet official added, is now “helping out on that aspect.”
In a discussion paper, the Japanese pundits underscored the need to develop a new aviation hub that will replace the current airport in Manila, which currently has four terminals that are seen to burst at their seams this year.
Jica proposed that the new international gateway be constructed in Cavite to meet the parameters set by the transportation agency. The future airport will boast of four runways, which can handle 700,000 aircraft movements per year. It will have a rated capacity of 130 million passengers annually.
The consultants noted that the deal can be bankrolled through the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program, mixed with funding from official development assistance (ODA).
The commercial operations of the new airport should start by 2025.
Separately, the government is mulling over the prospect of constructing a new terminal somewhere near C5 Road, which is the fifth beltway in Manila.
The state also wants to auction off the operations and maintenance of the Naia to tap the expertise of foreign airport operators to improve the services at the aging aviation hub.
The feasibility study for the deal, which costs about $2 million, is set to be completed by March, hence a Neda Board approval slated for May would be realistic, PPP Center Executive Director Cosette V. Canilao said.
“If everything has been laid out and we have already received the approval, by June or July we could start the bidding process. The awarding will definitely happen during the administration, and we can accelerate it further to hasten the implementation, hopefully, within the administration,” she said.
The deal will also involve the redevelopment of the four terminals of the decades-old airport.
The optimal capacity of the airport in Manila’s four terminals is at 30 million passengers, while the maximum capacity is at roughly 35 million passengers per year. This year the airport is expected to handle 37.78 million passengers, the bulk of which, or 21.31 million, would be domestic traffic, while the remaining 16.46 million would be international passengers. Come 2040, the Naia’s passenger traffic would reach 101.49 million.
‘Game-changing’ master plan
Abaya said the future aviation hub in the south of Manila is part of the “game-changing” master plan that his agency is crafting.
He said a multiagency body will soon come up with a list of priority deals, which are seen to plug major holes in the country’s infrastructure.
“The direction was we need to come up with our final last push for the last 18 months and, likewise, where will we take infrastructure beyond us. So these will be more of game-changing projects, one of which is the airport. That should be made in an officially declared plan and policy of the President. We are currently working on that,” the Cabinet official said.
The body is composed of the departments of Finance, Budget and Management, Public Works and Highways, Transportation and Communications, and Socioeconomic Planning.
“Neda is lead, so we are all contributing our own projects or components of the plan,” Abaya added.