Consortium asks gov’t to speed up approval of P350b offer to expand NAIA

March 11, 2018

Seven of the country’s largest conglomerates want the government to speed up approval of its P350 billion offer to expand the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

"The present approval process takes time, months to more than a year. The country would be well served if we can have a better NAIA soonest," said Jimbo Reverente, spokesperson for the super consortium that submitted last February 12 the first unsolicited proposal for NAIA's upgrade in a statement Saturday.

"The government can expedite the approvals allowed under existing rules. That will be the best scenario. Once we complete our short-term expansion and upgrading plans, passenger convenience will be immediately felt. There will be more space for everybody and that is just the first step," he said.

More expansion will follow to meet the expected growth in tourism, business and the economy. In 2017, the four NAIA terminals, designed to handle only 31 million, accommodated 42 million, he added.

"By 2019, the projection is we will have 47 million passengers. And the NAIA terminals will still have the same 31-million passenger capacity. So it is urgent for the country to get this project going because doing nothing as a result of a long approval process will set all of us back," he said.

"But if we can have our first wave completed by, say, 2020, tourism can become so much stronger that it can be a third economic pillar after the BPO and OFW remittances,” he added.

The seven conglomerates are: Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc, AC Infrastructure Holdings Corporation, Alliance Global Group, Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corporation, Filinvest Development Corporation, JG Summit Holdings, Inc., and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation. The super consortium will be initially called Naia Consortium.

The group planned to spend P100 billion for phase 1 and P250 billion for phase 2. DMS