The Manila International Airport Consortium (MIAC) yesterday said it has increased its proposed investment for its unsolicited proposal for the rehabilitation and expansion of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), with a P57 billion upfront payment to the government but a longer concession period of 25 years.
MIAC said in a press briefing the total investment is now at P267 billion, of which P57 billion is upfront payment to the government and the rest will be spent during the 25-year concession.
The project aims to increase the airport’s capacity from 31 million passengers per annum (MPPA) to about 70 MPPA in the long term.
Under MIAC’s NAIA masterplan, three key phases of development will feature increases in the airport’s capacity and reliability as well as overall improvements in passenger experience.
Phase 1, also called “Quick Wins,” will be implemented over the first two years and will increase passenger capacity to 54 MPPA by 2025 as well as improve reliability.
Phase 2 will increase the capacity of the airport to 62.5 MPPA by 2028 through the expansion and development of the terminal floor area, addition of airfield facilities, and improvements in cross-terminal transportation.
Phase 3 will further increase NAIA’s capacity to approximately 70 MPPA by 2048, and will consist of long-term expansion and development projects to further expand terminal space and airfield capacity.
“The Manila International Airport Consortium recognizes the immense task of transforming NAIA to meet the exponentially growing demands of Mega Manila air travel, not only in the here and now but also in the future,” said Kevin Tan, chairman and president of Alliance Global-InfraCorp Development Inc.
“It is because of this that the members of the Consortium have pooled together significant resources, technical expertise, and operational experience to put forward a NAIA masterplan,” added Tan.
MIAC said it has preferred the longer concession period as this is beneficial for the passengers and the government.
“…a 15-year concession period will not really do much in terms of transforming the airport.
We’ve already studied that before and we’ve actually asked, we had to convene ourselves in the beginning and actually sort of act out of that proposal because we don’t think it will be meaningful for the Filipinos. That’s why the proposal is 25 years. If you notice, a lot of the investments come the beginning part and then the rest comes towards the first five years and then beyond,” Tan said.
MIAC’s unsolicited proposal has a longer concession period compared with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Manila International Airport Authority’s joint solicited proposal of over P140 billion for 15 years.
Philip Iley, partner and head of transport of US-based Global Infrastructure Partner (GIP) which is the technical partner of the consortium, said the shorter concession period has less economic benefit to the country.
“The shorter the concession (is) going to result in three things. It’s going to result in lower interest, it’s going to result in higher charges for the Filipino passengers and smaller economic benefit to the country and lower value to the government. So we really do believe quite strongly that to unlock the full potential of NAIA and to invest the amount of money that the 25 years is the optimal solution,” Iley said.
GIP is one of the leading infrastructure investors and airport operators in the world whose portfolio of airports includes international hubs, such as London Gatwick Airport, Sydney Airport and Edinburgh Airport.
MIAC members include six of the Philippines’ largest conglomerates, namely, Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Alliance Global-Infracorp Development Inc., Filinvest Development Corp., and JG Summit Infrastructure Holdings Corp.
Asked about the status of MIAC’s proposal, Cosette Canilao, president and chief executive officer of Aboitiz InfraCapital, said the unsolicited proposal is still under review by the DOTr.
Through the implementation of the masterplan, MIAC said, it envisions a NAIA that will serve as an engine of growth for the Philippines, especially in the tourism and economic sectors as the country aspires to position itself as a regional powerhouse.
Apart from this, MIAC said its planned rehabilitation of NAIA is projected to generate P446 billion in gross economic value.
This includes, on a gross value basis, P100 billion from gross value-add in tourism activities, P152 billion from increased passenger comfort, P60 billion from passenger time savings, P65 billion from aircraft decongestion savings, and P65 billion from new local jobs.
