Airport execs prepare plan for 2nd runway

CEBU, Philippines - The Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority board has approved the establishment of a second runway, disclosed General Manager Nigel Paul Villarete.

Villarete said the planned runway is estimated to cost P6 billion and is planned to be constructed in 2018.

“Most of the big-ticket items have a certain gestation period…We have to do the necessary steps to prepare for this big infrastructure project. The second runway is identified as the next big thing that will happen to MCIA,” Villarete said Friday.

He said that normally gestation period for a project may take seven to 10 years. 

Villarete, a member of the board, said a conceptual design for the runway is now being worked on, which will be followed by a financial and economic feasibility study and a detailed engineering design.   

The project will then be forwarded to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for approval.

The size of the second runway will depend on the studies that will be conducted but Villarete said it may require between 38 to 80 hectares of additional land.

“We have to be realistic there will be certain degree of right of way acquisition. We may need to acquire land and we may need to relocate some existing land owners,” he further said. 

Villarete said they hope to open the new runway by 2020.

“But to be conservative about it, the second runway will be opened between 2020-2025,” he said. 

Villarete said it is possible that the project may be funded by official development assistance (ODA) from financing institutions such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Japan International Cooperation Agency.

“We have not come to that part yet… It’s too early to identify the ODA source,” he noted.

He said MCIA wants to start early, considering that “project development in the Philippines is always delayed.”

Part of the preparation is looking into studies on the airport that were conducted a few years ago.

Capacity

The second runway will become a requirement for the airport’s future capacity expansion between 2020-2030, which will increase the existing capacity by 20-50 percent, Villarete said.

He clarified, though, that the existing runway’s capacity can still accommodate more flights even by the time the second airport terminal, which is currently being built, will be opened.

“Growth has been brisk in the last five years…,” he said, adding, “And so the prospect for global aviation still remains high for the next 30 years. We have no other recourse but prepare for the future.”

The new runway, which will be considered a parallel dependent runway of the existing one, is also an answer to the annual passenger traffic growth.

The second terminal is expected to be completed by 2018, the same year construction of the second runway may begin.

Construction of the second terminal is being undertaken by the consortium of Filipino firm Megawide Construction Corp. and Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure Ltd.

GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) took over starting late last year the terminal operations at the Mactan airport.

In April last year, GMCAC signed a 25-year concession agreement with MCIAA to manage and upgrade Mactan airport.

The P17.52-billion upgrading project is the Aquino administration’s first airport public-private partnership project. — /JMO  (FREEMAN)