The New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC) led by San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is set to begin modernizing the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as the government will hand over to them the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the country’s main international gateway by Friday, Sept. 13, 2024.
“It’s an exciting time because we are about to make history. We can begin the work of modernizing our airport and giving the Filipino people a world-class facility they deserve,” SMC chairman Ramon Ang said Monday during the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP)-SMC Aviation Forum in Makati City.
“Even before the official handover, we have been working hard behind the scenes. We have opened a new OFW lounge recently as a space dedicated to our modern-day heroes. They are the first to experience the benefit of this landmark project,” Ang said.
Ang said despite the challenges, the San Miguel Group is committed to delivering on its promise of a world-class airport facility.
NNIC, composed of San Miguel Holdings Corp., RMM Asian Logistics Inc., RLW Aviation Development Inc. and Incheon International Airport Corp., offered P123.5 billion in capital expenditure to rehabilitate and modernize NAIA for the entire 25-year concession period.
Angelito Alvarez, general manager of NNIC, said the terminal reassignment would be implemented in two years once the NAIA Terminal 2 is completed.
“Remember the design capacity of the airport is just 35 million passengers and right now, we’re expected to hit 51 million passengers by the end of the year. So, there’s really congestion at the airport. Of we maintain the status quo, you can just imagine the impact on the passenger experience. So we need to do something,” he said.
Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista expressed confidence that NNIC would drastically improve the country’s main gateway into a globally competitive and modernized airport.
“We have no doubt these SMC-implemented projects, once completed, will conform with the comfortable, accessible, safe, secure and affordable parameters we instituted in DOTr – that is, our transport infrastructures will provide comfortable, accessible, safe, sustainable and affordable travel experience,” Bautista said.
Bautista said NAIA’s transformation hinges on San Miguel’s success in other public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
“In seeking excellence, they provide a realistic template for superior and effective government service. This provides a high level of comfort knowing San Miguel can do that job … and do it well,” he said.
Once the NAIA transformation is complete, Bautista said the airport’s capacity would increase from 35 million passengers to 62 million passengers while air traffic movement would rise from 40 movements per hour to 48.
The government is also expected to rake P900 billion in revenues for the duration of the concession agreement.
Bautista said the rehabilitation would generate at least 58,000 jobs for Filipinos.
