Waiting for a world-class airport

Despite renovations and the full operation of a third and larger terminal, the holidays always highlight the inadequacy of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The nation’s main gateway is always overwhelmed by the air traffic during peak travel season, as Filipinos working overseas return home for family reunions.

Now there’s hope that the chronic congestion at the NAIA might yet be eased. It’s still at the stage of an unsolicited proposal. With seven of the country’s top conglomerates as the proponents, however, there’s a good chance that the NAIA may yet get a long overdue upgrade into a world-class aviation facility. Under the proposal, foreign partners with the necessary technical expertise will be tapped to rehabilitate, operate and maintain the NAIA. Because major local partners are involved, the proposed modernization need not wait for a constitutional amendment to lift restrictions on foreign investments.

Based on recent official disclosures, the super consortium consists of the infrastructure subsidiaries of conglomerates Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Alliance Global, Ayala Corp., Filinvest Land Inc., JG Summit Holdings Inc., the Lucio Tan Group and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. Their sizes and reputation raise hopes that they can deliver on their plan not only to rehabilitate the NAIA but also to develop in-city and outcity airports to serve Metro Manila and neighboring areas. This is the set-up in many other mega cities such as Tokyo.

The proponents want to upgrade the NAIA so it can serve another 11 million passengers from the current 39.5 million. Another principal objective is to increase aircraft landing and take-off from 40 movements per hour to 48. Some of the world’s busiest airports such as London’s Heathrow use systems that allow for quick aircraft movements even without expanding runway capacity.

Since the full operation of the NAIA Terminal 3 after years of being mired in a corruption controversy, the airport has undergone several facelifts and has managed to lose its tag as one of the world’s worst gateways. But with other Asian countries vying to have the world’s best airport, the NAIA still pales in comparison. Improvements can quickly deteriorate and better services reversed, and the NAIA can again become a national embarrassment. The proposal of the super consortium could prevent this from happening, and finally give the nation a world-class airport.