Bid for NAIA runway project put on hold

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has further put on hold the bidding for the runway optimization project for the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

“In order to give prospective offerers ample time to prepare a competitive tender, please be informed that the submission and opening of eligibility documents, technical and financial proposals is postpone until further notice,” DOTC undersecretary Jose Perpetuo Lotilla said in a bulletin.

He said prospective bidders for the P67 million NAIA runway optimization project could still purchase negotiation documents and could send their queries to the DOTC.

After two failed biddings, the DOTC decided to negotiate the contract for the NAIA runway optimization project that includes increasing runway movements, improving slot schedules, adding infrastructure and upgrading technology.

NAIA exceeded the design capacity of 30 million passengers per year as the four terminals handled 32 million passengers in 2012 amid the surge in tourist arrivals as well as the country’s improving economy.

The DOTC believes that the perpendicular runway design – primary runway 06/24 and secondary runway 13/31 –has made NAIA a highly congested airport. Aircraft movements went up to a high of 255,000 in 2011 amid the rise in passenger and aircraft activity.

Earlier, DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said three companies including US-based Mitre Corp., NATS Ltd of the United Kingdom, and Copenhagen Airport of Germany have expressed interest in the consultancy contract for the NAIA runway optimization project.

Abaya is also pushing for the construction of a new 2.1-kilometer runway worth P2.4 billion parallel to the existing primary runway 06/24.

However, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) director general William Hotchkiss III said the proposed parallel runway is currently on hold and is still subject to further studies.

Hotchkiss said the proposed runway would affect the existing radar system of the airport as well as the adjacent Circumferential Road 5 (C5) extension.

“We are restudying that (the third runway project) because first, the radar, we have to relocate that and that’s going to cost money. There’s the C5 road as well which will be impacted upon, and we may have to re-engineer C5 itself so that will cost money as well,” Hotchkiss said.