JICA to complete study on Sangley airport in June

MANILA, Philippines - The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is set to complete the feasibility study for the planned $10-billion international gateway in Sangley Point in Cavite in the middle of this year.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said JICA is now undertaking the feasibility study for the new gateway that would eventually replace the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

“JICA is finishing the study and they are supposed to give it to us in June,” Abaya said.

JICA picked the Sangley Airport over Laguna de Bay as the site of the proposed new airport as the cost of reclamation is only P120 billion as compared to Laguna de Bay wherein P240 billion is needed for reclamation costs.

JICA was earlier looking at Sangley Airport in Cavite and Laguna de Bay as the possible site for the new international gateway that would replace NAIA. Both locations entail massive reclamation as the new international airport requires at least 2,000 hectares.

“It was JICA that picked Sangley we just gave them parameters. They studied all the possible sites, we just want it to be 20 minutes drive and 20 kilometers away. They did seven sites and eventually did a point-system and Sangley landed on top considering the criteria,” Abaya said.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) wants to put into operation a new international airport by 2027 with the joint development of the congested NAIA in Manila and the Clark International Airport in Pampanga.

A JICA study showed that the number of passengers in Greater Capital Region would hit 106.7 million by 2040 from 31.88 million in 2012. It expects passengers from the National Capital Region as well as Central Luzon and Calabarzon would rise steadily to 49.8 million in 2020, 75 million in 2030, and 106.7 million in 2040.

To meet these expected volumes, the government has identified two viable options that involve the expansion of Clark International Airport (CIA) as well as the development of a new international airport roughly within 20 to 30 minutes of Metro Manila.

One option entails the closure and sale of NAIA by 2030 wherein the new international airport to be operational by 2027 would provide 78 percent of the required passenger terminal building while the international gateway in Clark, Pampanga would handle 22 percent.

The other option, allows NAIA to co-exist alongside CIA and the new airport up to 2040 and beyond.

For its part, diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has presented to President Aquino a planned $10-billion airport to be situated in a 1,600-hectare property owned by Cyber Bay Corp. along the Manila-Cavite expressway (Cavitex).