Government eyes turning NAIA into real estate development hub

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ transportation chief on Friday disclosed that the government is considering closing the 70-year-old Ninoy Aquino International Airport and transforming it into a real estate development area, saying the country’s premier gateway "will not last forever."

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said the economic team is eyeing to turn the overstretched airport into a property development area that will be bigger than the Bonifacio Global City, the capital's newest financial district in Taguig City, Manila.

“It will be eight to nine years at most 10 years... that is the life span of NAIA. Why? Because of the congested area and because of the technology at the airport,” Tugade said during the second leg of the Philippine Economic Briefing 2018 in Clark, Pampanga.

Two consortiums have submitted their separate unsolicited proposals to upgrade Manila’s aging airport.

In February, a team of tycoons, which has a combined capitalization of more than P2.2 trillion, said they submitted a $6.7-billion offer to rehabilitate NAIA.

Listed builder Megawide Construction Corp. and its Indian partner, GMR, later announced they want to give NAIA a $3-billion makeover.

Seeing the deterioration of the Manila airport, Tugade said the government is “entertaining” proposals to build airports outside the capital, including offers to establish new and modern airports in Bulacan and Sangley Point in Cavite.