Glossing over reports that the consortium of San Miguel Corp. in the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is not just rehabilitating the decrepit and pest-ridden gateway of the country but will also be expanding it by adding another terminal to accommodate the growing number of visitors and domestic travelers.
Glossing over reports that the consortium of San Miguel Corp. in the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is not just rehabilitating the decrepit and pest-ridden gateway of the country but will also be expanding it by adding another terminal to accommodate the growing number of visitors and domestic travelers.
This just shows how upbeat the mega-consortium is about the country’s growth.
SMC plans to construct a new passenger terminal building (in the former Philippine Village Hotel grounds) for NAIA to double its capacity after securing the contract for rehabilitating, operating and maintaining it.
SMC president Ramon Ang said the consortium called New NAIA Infrastructures Corp’s goal is to “clean” the image of NAIA through several enhancements, including the new terminal.
“We saw that the return will be good if we build a new terminal. It will be located at the Philippine Village Hotel. What we need is the approval of the government. We can finish that quickly,” he told media as he noted that the terminal can be inaugurated within three years from approval.
The new terminal will have a capacity of 35 million passengers per annum (MPPA) and will be equipped with 50 boarding bridges.
“We have to build an airport that is good for 65 MPPA. No terminal will be phased out, but we will decongest all terminals by moving the offices to the planned new multipurpose building carpark,” the SMC top honcho said.
By moving the offices to a new location, NAIA’s existing terminals will have 30 percent more capacity, he said.
Better NAIA
He vowed an improved passenger experience within six months from taking over the operations and maintenance (O&M) of NAIA, scheduled for September.
Ang said the P170.6-billion financing for the project has already been secured among seven lenders, one of which is BDO, which has been aggressively raising funds for the project.
Apart from BDO, five or six more banks have thrown their commitments to fund the project.
The NAIA Infrastructure Corp. —composed of San Miguel Holdings Corp. RMM Asian Logistics Inc., RLW Aviation Development Inc., and Incheon International Airport Corp. won the bid for the project when it offered the most generous government share of revenues of 82.16 percent of future gross revenues.
“This project has been thought of 30 years ago, but it’s only now that we are able to implement it and we were able to do it in less than one year. The process was very fair and transparent,” beamed Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.
The NAIA rehabilitation project is a Rehabilitate-Operate-Expand-Transfer (ROET) deal led by the DOTr and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).
Under the terms of reference for the deal, the winning consortium shall provide an upfront payment of P30 billion to the government as premium and another P2 billion in annuity payments.
It is also required to remit a certain percentage of the revenues to the government.
This will be the main bid parameter for the auction—the higher the proposed share of the government in the NAIA’s revenues are, the better.
Executive Director Ma. Cynthia Hernandez of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Center said: “It is a significant milestone in the Philippine infrastructure landscape, highlighting the government’s commitment to its Build-Better-More program. We are confident that the streamlined process this project underwent will serve as a blueprint for future Philippine PPP projects.”
The concession allows the consortium to operate the gateway for 15 years renewable by 10 years as long as the concessionaire is “not in flagrant violation of the concession agreement.”