“… the Philippines and most of Asia are revving up for increased travel demand.”
Building and expanding airports often serve as the showcase of a nation’s economic might. Having bigger and modern airports and accommodating tens of millions of foreign tourists yearly are a confirmation of a country’s steady economic progress.
The Philippines like the rest of the world is ready to meet the challenge of a rising tourism sector following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a growing middle-income class, the Philippines and most of Asia are revving up for increased travel demand.
The Philippines’ Department of Transportation (DOTr) is joining other nations in modernizing their airports and expanding their capacity to welcome more travelers. The DOTr just conducted this week the preliminary evaluation of the technical proposals submitted by four consortia vying for the concession to operate the Ninony Aquino International Airport, or NAIA.
All four groups joining the bidding, according to Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan, submitted complete documents of their technical proposals, edging them closer to the final round of the selection process.
The DOTr is keeping close to its deadline target of privatizing NAIA—the department is set to to release the notice of award on Feb. 15 and sign the concession deal on March 15.
Passing the technical assessment qualifies a bidder to submit a financial offer, the key to the selection process. Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista has said the DOTr will award the contract to the bidder with the highest offer on income sharing.
The government will ask the winning proponent to double the passenger capacity of the airport to 62 million a year. Bidders will be given a minimum of 15 years to upgrade the gateway and its facilities, and an additional 10 years, depending on its performance.
Four companies, namely the Manila International Airport Consortium, Asian Airport Consortium, GMR Airports Consortium and the San Miguel Corp. SAP & Co. Consortium, are vying for the project.
Regional and global competition
Manila is not the only airport that is trying to reinvent itself in the face surging travel demand. Air passenger demand in Southeast Asia, according to Japan Aircraft Development Corp., will likely triple in the two decades from 2019.
A Nikkei research study on the expansion plans of airports near the capital cities of seven countries in the region—Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Cambodia—predicted that total annual passenger handling capacity will reach at least 653 million people by 2030, or nearly double from the 336 million as of January 2023.
Thailand opened a satellite terminal at Suvarnabhumi Airport near Bangkok in September, per the report of Nikkei Asia, a major Japan-based English-language weekly news magazine. Thailand, says the Nikkei Asia report, plans to expand two other airports, Don Mueang International Airport near Bangkok and U-Tapao Airport, just southeast of the capital. The total capacity of the three airports in the metropolitan area would increase to 200 million passengers by 2030.
Vietnam, adds the Nikkei Asia report, will invest nearly 100 trillion dong ($4 billion) to increase the capacity of Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport to 60 million passengers by 2030, 2.5 times its current amount.
The United State, meanwhile, is following suit to expand and modernize its aging airports. Construction on an Automated People Mover, based on data from the Federal Aviation Administration, news organizations and local airport authorities, is ongoing at Los Angeles International Airport since 2019. The new electric-powered transit system will connect LAX to the city’s public rail system via the future LAX/Metro Transit Center Station, which are both scheduled to open in 2024. LA is doing the works in preparation for hosting the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is thick on the construction phase of its $19-billion project to build “A New JFK.” It involves building a new international terminal that broke ground in September 2022 and is slated to open in 2026, replacing Terminal 2 (demolished in early 2023) and Terminal 3, the former Pan Am Worldport, which was razed in 2013.
The winning bidder of the NAIA modernization against this backdrop must ensure best practice in managing and modernizing the airport. NAIA will be first window of tourists traveling to the Philippines.
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