LEGACY carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is urging the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to fast-track the approval, award and construction of different airports in the Philippines – particularly those aimed at either improving or replacing the current Manila air hub—as this could help the company further expand its route network.
Jaime J. Bautista, the company’s president, said his group is supportive of the unsolicited proposals submitted by various consortia for the development of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), the Bulacan International Airport and Sangley International Airport as Naia is already congested.
“As an airline operator, we would like to have more destinations where we can operate. Manila is already congested, and while we are expanding in Clark, we welcome new airports for all these developments will really support the requirement of the airline industry,” he said.
Naia Consortium, a team of Filipino conglomerates, offered to rehab, expand, operate, and maintain the Naia through a P102-billion investment spread across 15 years. For Sangley, the government is considering two unsolicited proposals.
The proposal of the Cavite government involves the development of Sangley Airport to have a total capacity of 130 million passengers per year and four runways through 2028. The P552.02-billion unsolicited offer, likewise, has a provision for the construction of mass-transit systems and new roads.
The other proposal—submitted by Sangley Airport Infrastructure Group Inc., a company led by the Sy family’s Belle Corp. and Solar Group’s All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp. (ARRC—involves the development of the airport to become a regional hub that can accommodate about 120 million passengers every year once fully developed.
It proposed to create a new air metropolis that involves the reclamation of about 2,500 hectares of land, the rehabilitation of the Danilo Atienza Air Base, and the construction of another terminal.
San Miguel Corp. proposed to develop the P754-billion Bulacan International Airport, which is envisioned as a 2,500-hectare airport complex that will have a total capacity of 100 million passengers annually. It also has a provision for the construction of an 8.4-kilometer airport toll road.
“We want the government to really support all these airport development projects,” Bautista said.
But what is most pressing, he noted, is the development of Sangley as a commercial airport.
“We have asked the DOTr to fast-track the completion of Sangley Airport. With the improvements of Sangley, we can operate our Q400s which we now fly out of Clark and Cebu. So if Sangley is developed, we can move some of the flights from Clark to Sangley,” Bautista explained.
Currently, the transport department is developing Sangley as a commercial airport by extending the runway to accommodate bigger jets.