Concepcion revives consortium proposal for Naia rehabilitation

FOLLOWING the glitch that halted all air travel within Philippine airspace on Sunday, January 1, Go Negosyo founder Jose Maria A. Concepcion III is suggesting the revival of a 2018 proposal forming a consortium to modernize the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

“Naia is strategically located and any improvements made here will redound to so many benefits to the country,” said Concepcion in a news statement issued on Monday.

The Go Negosyo founder said the “inefficiencies” in the country’s main international airport translate to big losses in business and are felt throughout the country. With this, Concepcion believes that the private sector can contribute if it’s only allowed to participate.

According to the statement issued by Go Negosyo, under the consortium’s proposal, it promised that Naia will have a 20 percent increase in efficiency, pushing it to become a world-class gateway at par with the world’s best airports. In addition, there were no government guarantees, and no moratorium on the construction of another major airport.

“In 2018,the consortium’s unsolicited proposal was recommended for approval by the Department of Transportation [DOTR] to the Manila International Airport Authority, the primary government agency for the project. By August that year, the consortium secured from the Philippine government an original proponent status for its plan to rehabilitate the Naia; it was approved by the [National Economic and Development Authority] Neda board in November 2019,” the Go Negosyo statement read.

According to Go Negosyo, the consortium comprised some of the country’s biggest conglomerates, namely, Aboitiz Infracapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

Concepcion, who was responsible for forming the consortium, recalled the idea for the consortium was first “put forward” a year before, in 2017.

“All of the conglomerates were interested in seeing the project push through,” said Concepcion, adding that it would have been good for their respective businesses, such as in air travel, real estate or retail.

“We were all in agreement that connectivity is important, and even the tycoons who were not formally part of the group pitched in to see how they can help,” he said.

“Having seen how badly key systems in our air transportation system need to be modernized, and how severely any glitch can affect the whole country, I hope that this time, we can revive this proposal and see it through,” Concepcion added.

Flight operations at the Naia were temporarily halted after the gateway experienced some “technical issue involving the radar frequency” at the Air Traffic Management Center of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) on Sunday.