EDITORIAL - Inadequate

Whatever the outcome of the litigation over the third terminal of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the government should give priority to expanding the country’s air transport facilities.

The country is home to Asia’s first airline and once boasted of having the region’s most modern airport. Today the Philippines has the most inadequate air transport facilities among the founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Even Cambodia’s Siem Reap, its most popular tourist destination, is leaving the Philippines behind in terms of airport facilities.

While the Philippine government bickers with private contractors over ownership of the NAIA Terminal 3, neighboring countries can offer travelers 10 times the number of terminals and perhaps 50 times the number of lavatories. The NAIA complex lacks cargo terminal facilities and a new fuel depot. It has dangerously inadequate nighttime air navigation facilities. The complex has no room for expansion.

Foreign airlines refuse to move their operations to the NAIA-3 from the original Terminal 1 unless the government’s ownership dispute with Germany’s Fraport AG and its local partner Philippine International Air Terminals Co. is resolved. This looks unlikely within the near future after the Washington-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ruled recently that Fraport could file a new case against the Philippine government for compensation.

With little room for improvement at the NAIA, the government may have to seriously consider proposals from the business sector to develop the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Pampanga as the country’s premier airport, gradually turning NAIA into a domestic air facility. The proposal includes the construction of a connection between the two airports. The fate of Fraport’s investment in this country has also spooked foreign investors. A conviction for corruption in connection with the case would bolster the government’s argument for expropriating the NAIA-3.

The government needs to develop not only a modern premier gateway for Metro Manila but also other airports in key regions. Neighboring countries long ago realized the importance of having adequate air transport infrastructure to boost the travel industry and stimulate economic activity. If the Philippines wants to compete, it must start catching up in this department.