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The September 14 handover of operations and maintenance of Ninoy Aquino International Airport to its new operator, New NAIA Infra Corporation, is on schedule
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Transportation undersecretary for aviation and airports Roberto Lim said NNIC, DOTr, and Manila International Airport Authority have been holding joint steering committee meetings to tackle transition issues
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DOTr and MIAA are waiting for the Governance Commission for GOCCs’ approval for the new plantilla and retirement plan program
The September 14 handover of operations and maintenance of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to its new operator, New NAIA Infra Corporation (NNIC), is on schedule, according to Transportation undersecretary for aviation and airports Roberto Lim.
During a Lower House Committee on Appropriations hearing on August 28, Lim said transition activities are ongoing and that they are “on sched to do the handover on September 14.”
NNIC is the special purpose company formed by the winning bidder of the 15-year concession agreement for the NAIA rehabilitation project—SMC SAP & Company Consortium composed of San Miguel Holdings Corp., RMM Asian Logistics, Inc.; RLW Aviation Development Inc., and Incheon International Airport Corp.
As mandated by the concession agreement, Lim said NNIC, the Department of Transportation (DOTr), and Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) have been holding joint steering committee meetings to tackle transition issues, which involve “some early works being done by the concessionaire such as the OFW lounge, improving the layout of Terminal 3.”
On the part of DOTr and MIAA, Lim said “there are works in progress that we are continuing because these [have] already been started even at the beginning of the year such as adding toilets, and including also layouts.”
DOTr and MIAA have also been working together with NNIC and the Pasay City government “with respect to the activities needed to demolish the Philippine Village Hotel structure.”
DOTr earlier said NNIC plans to expand two of NAIA’s passenger terminal buildings. The north wing of Terminal 2 will be expanded towards the Philippine Village Hotel and Nayong Pilipino area. The south wing will be extended towards Terminal 1 after the International Cargo Complex and fuel farm are relocated.
READ: Plans for NAIA terminals revealed
On the proposed restructured organization plan of MIAA, Lim said they are waiting for the Governance Commission for GOCCs’ (government-owned and controlled companies) approval for the new plantilla and retirement plan program.
With the privatization of NAIA’s operations, MIAA will be focusing on its function as a regulator, which Lim said means “it will shrink as an organization.”
“So far 77.5% of the regular employees of MIAA have accepted the offer since the concession agreement mandates that the concessionaire offers employment to all employees of the MIAA, except for the airport police which will be retained as an organic team and some essential employees that would be needed by the MIAA to continue its function as regulator,” Lim said.
SMC president and chief executive officer Ramon Ang also earlier said they are looking into implementing new terminal assignments for domestic and foreign airlines before November 1 to improve efficiency of runway use and accommodate more flights.
The concessionaire also plans to spend P3 billion to P5 billion to construct a new off-ramp connection between the NAIA Expressway to NAIA Terminal 3 to improve access to the terminal.
The 15-year contract involves the rehabilitation, expansion and operation of NAIA to address long standing capacity issues. The project aims to increase NAIA’s annual capacity to at least 62 million passengers from 35 million and enhance air traffic movement from 40 to 48 per hour.
Under a rehabilitate-operate-expand-transfer arrangement, the concessionaire has 15 years–extendable by another 10 years–to enhance airport passenger terminals, airside facilities, develop commercial assets and utility systems, and provide surface access facilities for intermodal transfer, inter-terminal passenger transfer facilities, and services, among other obligations.
Transport undersecretary for planning and project development Timothy John Batan earlier said for the first year of the concession period, initial works include “quick things or low-hanging fruits.” Other key performance indicators also include shorter and more predictable waiting time at the check-in and immigration counters, availability in parking, improved security checks, availability of seats, time it takes for the baggage to be transferred from the aircraft belly to the conveyor belts, reliable operating escalators and passenger boarding bridges, among others.
The project is expected to generate around P900 billion or P36 billion per year of revenue for the national government in the course of the full 25 years of the concession. This is inclusive of the concessionaire’s P30 billion upfront payment, fixed annuity payment of P2 billion annually, and 82.16% government share.
Capital outlay for the project is estimated at least P88 billion in the first six years, or at least P122.3 billion for the entire 25-year concession period. The estimated capital outlay is non-binding and may increase depending on the requirements.
READ: Signing of P170B concession agreement jump-starts NAIA modernization
