Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is confident that the next administration will accept its unsolicited proposal to build a third runway in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).
SMC President Ramon S. Ang told reporters that he will still push for the third runway, which will cost about P50 billion, to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).
A design of the proposed third runway is already finished and can be presented to officials, he said.
“I will give that plan to those who believe in the project. I will still push for it and I’m sure the next administration will do it,” Ang told reporters at the sidelines of the company’s listing of its new series of preferred shares at the Philippine Stock Exchange.
SMC has been proposing the said plan to the government since last year; but it encountered opposition in the DOTC.
According to his proposed design, the new runway, which will have a length of 3,400 meters and is 45 meters wide, will be parallel to the current main runway. It will have its own passenger terminal building and will cater to domestic and low-cost airlines.
Much of the P50 billion, he said, will be for the acquisition of right-of-way by the government, which may include the warehouse of the SM group. Only P7 billion will be allotted for the construction.
“If the government was able to secure the right-of-way at the back, I will place a budget of P50,000 per square meter,” Ang said.
The third runway will have its own exit at the South Luzon Expressway by constructing a flyover, which, Ang said, will be offered free of charge to the users. “I will place it in unsolicited project bid to the next administration if this current administration will not accept,” he said.
Ang did not give further details on its unsolicited bid since it may be subjected to a Swiss challenge if given the go signal.
The new facility will have add another 50 takeoffs and landings per hour at the Naia, or higher than the 42
takeoffs and landings of the main runway.
With the DOTC tapping British air-traffic management firm NATS Services Ltd. for a P66-million deal to advise the government on maximizing runway use at the Naia, Ang said the number of takeoff and landing could improve to 60 in a few months.
The first stage of the construction will take two years to finish, including the terminal that will have a capacity of about 30 million passengers per year. It can initially build the project now, constructing a 2,500-meter length of runway, and the rest of the length can be carried out if the right-of-way has been acquired. San Miguel also proposed a new and bigger Manila airport to be located near the so-called Entertainment City.
Ang said the government will still need that since the current facilities are only good until 2025, the time when the current Naia is expected to be filled as the country’s economy improves.
“Ultimately, you will need to build a new airport with four runways,” he said.
At the moment, the Naia only has two runways: the main runway called 06/24 that has a length of 3,400 meters and the shorter runway called 13/31.