Sand problems hound Bulacan airport

While SMC Infrastructure has greatly improved the facilities of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the timetable for the more modern Bulacan International Airport continues to face delays due to challenges in sourcing adequate sand for landfilling the new airport facility.

The Bulacan International Airport project is envisioned to operate under a 50-year concession agreement with the Philippine government. It is intended to eventually replace NAIA, which is constrained by its limited land and bordered by sprawling commercial and residential developments that actually compromise its safety and that of neighboring communities.

SMC will secure the title for the Bulacan airport in the name of the Republic of the Philippines which will own the land. Once the Bulacan airport is completed, it would help decongest Metro Manila.

It had been pointed out that real estate in the city now costs as much as P500,000 per square meter. Relocating to Bulacan was also presented as a real estate boost as the province would become more attractive for real property development.

Contractors are abuzz about the opportunity to supply the sand requirements of the Bulacan International Airport, but those interested are having difficulty sourcing the sandy soil that is specifically required for the airport runway.

In a briefing last June, SMC chairman and CEO Ramon Ang said the completion of the airport would still take some time as, so far, only one runway is on-track for completion by 2028.

Sources say China has been a major competitor/buyer of our sand. In fact, the Philippines was among the major suppliers of sand for the construction of the Hong Kong International Airport in the late 1990s, they said.

It is also well-known that China has been a major buyer of black sand from Zambales, where black mining operations are efficiently and tightly controlled by one group.

Black sand mining has been criticized for eroding our beaches, and there was also criticism that the country was also effectively selling itself short since black sand may contain critical mineral elements that China is more capable of refining.

China is also in the middle of constructing more artificial islands in the disputed South China/West Philippine Sea, with the Philippines and Cambodia as the major suppliers of sand.

Additionally, SMC Infrastructure also faces local competition from the current reclamation activities in the Manila Bay Area.

As far back as September 2024, Ang cited difficulty in sourcing adequate sand for the new airport site’s landfilling. Ang pointed out then that the delay in the Bulacan airport project has been due to a lack of sand as a filling material for land development, not due to being mabagal (slow).

“We have no control over the material. In fact we are paying a penalty,” he said. Under the agreement with the government, failure to meet the agreed timeline is subject to a penalty.

However, SMC Infrastructure’s smooth takeover of NAIA has eased pressure on the timetable for completing the Bulacan International Airport. Visible construction activities are now underway for the new domestic terminal, which will eventually link to Terminal 1.

Recent upgrades to its Terminal 1 and 3 facilities, particularly the departure area now having more and better selection of restaurants and food concessionaires and upgraded departure lounges have been praised by travelers.

The new domestic terminal will also soon rise where the former Philippine Village Hotel once stood, and which had hampered the efficient use of NAIA for several long years.

However, a new building for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. or PAGCOR would also be built in the area as per their agreement in helping facilitate the resolution of the legal impasse that for years had prevented the government from evicting and demolishing the old PVH.

Business Snippets learned that there would be no physical connection to Terminal 3 as it is too far.

The New NAIA Infra. Corp. or NNIC, instead, reportedly plans airside bus transfers. This means that international passengers would not have to leave the airport premises, but would be bussed from their arrival terminal to the domestic departure terminal or vice versa.

At present, terminal transfers are done through shuttle buses that unfortunately require transferring passengers to pass through immigration first upon arrival and then catch the free shuttle from their arrival terminal to their departure terminal.

In the past, international passengers had to manage the terminal transfer themselves, exposing them to scammers who would charge them an expensive transfer fee. With the takeover by NNIC, transferring passengers are now provided free shuttle bus transfer service to and from the domestic terminal or to Terminal 1 or 3.

Business Snippets also learned that the NNIC is finally set to auction off several abandoned aircraft that have been pushed to the perimeter of the NAIA complex and is visible to those using the C-5 Link to Parañaque.

It has taken some time for NNIC to deal with the abandoned aircraft, which previously prevented the effective use of the runways due to the hangars where the abandoned aircraft were kept.

Major hotel industry changes

The local hotel sector is also abuzz with rumors about a leadership shake-up in a major hotel and resort brand that has been at the forefront of the local hotel industry with its aggressive partnerships and continued construction of successful townships.

The departures were highly unexpected and have been kept under wraps, but rumors have been spreading since possible replacements will come from competitors.