NAIA Consortium seeks quick approval of P350-B rehab plan

The NAIA Consortium has urged government to expedite the approval process for its P350-billion proposal to rehabilitate the main international gateway, saying an upgrade of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) would help drive the country’s economic growth and create more than a million jobs.

“If there is one single economic catalyst that carries so much punch, it is NAIA. That we are an archipelago endowed with natural beauty makes NAIA even more important,” Jose Emmanuel Reverente, spokesperson of the NAIA Consortium composed of conglomerates 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., said in a statement yesterday.

He said based on a study by advisory firm Oxford Economics and the International Air Transport Association which groups international carriers, the local aviation sector contributed 3.2 percent or more than $9 billion of the country’s 2014 GDP and generated a total of 1.2 million jobs.

As the aviation sector has grown since then, he said NAIA must be upgraded to continue serving as a driver of economic growth for the country and prevent the airport “from becoming the next EDSA.”

NAIA handled 42 million passengers last year. For this year, the number of passengers is expected to rise to 44 million.

“In all those years, NAIA’s terminal capacity remained constrained at 31 million. If we want air transport to create more economic wealth and generate more jobs, we have to expand, upgrade and improve NAIA now, not later,” Reverente said.

Of the 1.2 million jobs created in 2014, the Oxford study said close to a million came from tourism.

“Clearly, NAIA is a lifeline for the countryside. Tourism is one of the ways the government can achieve its goal of making the country’s growth more inclusive. The bigger and better NAIA is, the better for everybody all over the country,” he said.

The NAIA Consortium submitted its proposal to upgrade the country’s main airport covering a 35-year concession period last Feb. 12 to the Department of Transportation.

Under the proposal, the consortium would make improvements and expand the terminals in the existing NAIA land area, as well as develop an additional runway, taxiways, passenger terminals and associated support infrastructure.

The proposal also includes a people mover that will link the terminals and connect NAIA to the existing mass transport system in Metro Manila, as well as an option for a third runway.

Through the proposal, the consortium seeks to bring the NAIA’s capacity to 47 million by 2020 and increase it further to 65 million by 2022 from 31 million, at present.

To be able to expand the NAIA’s capacity, Reverente said the NAIA Consortium should be given the notice to proceed from the government within this year.

“NAIA is a must-solve-now challenge. The country cannot wait. We hope the government can expedite the approval process so we can start re-building our gateway and giving passengers an experience they only enjoy when abroad,” he said.