MANILA – A consortium composed of Solar Group’s Wilson Y. Tieng and tycoon Henry T. Sy, Sr. has submitted to the government its unsolicited proposal for a $12-billion airport in Sangley, Cavite.
In a statement, the Sangley Airport Infrastructure Group, Inc., led by All-Asia Resources and Reclamation, Corp. and Belle Corporation, said it is proposing to build a new regional airport hub that can accommodate about 120 million passengers annually once fully developed.
Under its proposal for the Philippine Sangley International Airport (PSIA), the development of the airport component is pegged at around $12 billion, and involves a concession period of 50 years.
The project will start with the reclamation of about 2,500 hectares of land north of the Sangley peninsula, to be used for the development of airport infrastructure and a commercial establishment. The plan also includes the development of airside and landside facilities and transportation infrastructure.
“The PSIA will be designed with two parallel independent runways and sufficient airside and terminal capacity to accommodate future demand for domestic, international and transfer traffic, not only for the Philippines but for all Southeast Asia. The new airport hub is also envisioned to compete with other premier Southeast Asia airports like the ones in Bangkok, Seoul, Hong Kong, and Singapore,” Sangley Airport Infrastructure Group said in a statement.
The PSIA plan also includes the rehabilitation of the Danilo Atienza Air Base, which will be used in the future as a general aviation airport to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminals. The air base will be turned into an “aerotropolis” district which will accommodate service buildings, office towers, hotels, and conference centers.
The Tieng-Sy consortium said the new airport will also “reduce restrictions on land in Metro Manila.” It will also operate “with a significantly reduced noise impact” than the NAIA since its location is off Manila Bay.
In 2016, the Tieng-Sy consortium had proposed a $50-billion project to develop an airport and economic zone off Sangley Point.
The government recently received two proposals for the rehabilitation of NAIA, which accommodated over 39.5 million passengers in 2016, way more than its 30.5-million designed capacity.
The “super consortium” of conglomerates Aboitiz Infra Capital, Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group, Inc., AEDC, Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings, Inc. and Metro Pacific Investment Corp., submitted to the government on Feb. 13 a P350-billion proposal for the rehabilitation of NAIA to turn it into a regional hub, with a concession of 35 years.
The consortium of Megawide Construction Corp. and Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure Ltd. submitted to the government last week a $3-billion proposal to improve NAIA, with a concession of 18 years.
The “super consortium” is considering putting a third runway to decongest the airport, but GMR-Megawide has already ruled out putting one, citing reasons such as possible reclamation needed and only marginal capacity to be added by a third runway. It said will improve airside capacity by extending the existing runways and adding additional parking bays and rapid exit taxiways.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade has said that the agency will adopt a “the more, the merrier” type of strategy, saying that big metropolises such as London and Tokyo have multiple airports. The government is currently working on the terms for the operations and maintenance bidding of the expansion of Clark International Airport (CIA). GMR-Megawide last December won the contract to construct the new CIA terminal.
San Miguel Corp. has also submitted a proposal for an airport in Bulacan. The conglomerate has been granted original proponent status and its project is under evaluation by the National Economic and Development Authority — Investment Coordination Committee. — Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo