NAIA Consortium completes submission of P350-B offer

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has declared a complete submission for the P350 billion offer of the consortium composed of seven of the country’s biggest conglomerates to transform the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) into a regional hub.

In a statement the NAIA Consortium said it received a letter dated March 12, with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) declaring the proposal of the consortium of seven conglomerates to improve and expand NAIA as “in accordance with the documentary requirements” stated in the Build-Operate-Transfer law.

“This finding is a major milestone for an unsolicited proposal likes ours to progress in the bureaucracy. An incomplete proposal does not move forward,” NAIA Consortium spokesperson Jimbo Reverente said.

Composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., the NAIA Consortium submitted its proposal to the DOTr last Feb.12.

The NAIA Consortium has tapped Changi International Airport, which currently runs the main airport in Singapore, as technical partner.

Following the complete submission of the proposal, the offer will be evaluated by the DOTr.

Should the DOTr give original proponent status (OPS) to the NAIA Consortium, the offer would then have to be evaluated and approved by the National Economic and Development Authority before a Swiss challenge would be conducted.

An OPS means the proponent would have the right to match the best offer given by another group for the project under a Swiss challenge.

The NAIA Consortium’s proposal, which covers a 35-year concession period, will involve two phases of development.

Phase 1 will involve improvements and expansion of the terminals in the current NAIA land area, while phase 2 will cover the development of an additional runway, taxiways, passenger terminals and associated support infrastructure.

In addition, the proposal includes a people mover that will link the terminals and connect NAIA to the existing mass transport system in Metro Manila, as well as an option for a third runway.

Construction of the additional runway will ensure the ability of NAIA to serve as Manila’s gateway for years to come and to handle up to 100 million passengers per year.

“Last year, a total of 42 million passengers passed through the four NAIA terminals designed to carry only 31 million passengers. We are hoping to clear the government’s approval process and Swiss challenge at the soonest, so we can begin our work immediately thereafter,” Reverente said.