NAIA-1 rehab to start Jan. 16

MANILA, Philippines - The rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 (NAIA-1) will start on Jan. 16, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said yesterday.

The P1.16-billion makeover will coincide with the repaving of two NAIA runways, which should have been done in November last year. Airline operators asked the MIAA to move the repaving to 2012 because the repairs would have been done during the holidays, considered the peak season for airlines.

The repair of NAIA runway 06-24 – which involves repaving an area 3,747 meters long, 60 meters wide and five inches thick – will be done from midnight to 5:30 a.m. over six to eight months, MIAA senior assistant general manager Antonio Bautista said.

He said the structural retrofitting of NAIA-1 will start with the pullout of the arrival lobby escalator.