All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp. (ARRC) urged the government on Sunday to decide on its unsolicited proposal to build a new airport complex in Sangley, as this would help the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) become more efficient.
Edmundo Lim, who sits as vice chairman at ARRC, said should the government approve the group’s proposal, it will keep the present Danilo Atienza Airport in Sangley as a third runway to handle private jets and smaller carriers.
This, he said, will complement the initial two independent runways for its proposed international gateway.
“We have submitted an unsolicited proposal to rehabilitate Danilo Atienza and finish it in one year. If the government accepts this, we can absorb all general aviation from the Naia and some low-cost carriers so the Naia can handle more commercial flights,” he said.
Lim assured the government it will not spend a single centavo on the Danilo Atienza and the international gateway airport projects.
“We have long been ready with our foreign partners to do both. Hopefully, the government decides soon enough, even for the Danilo Atienza project only, because it will make the Naia more efficient,” he said.
Small private jets, sometimes with only one passenger or just the pilot, and those that transport seafood, for instance, use the same space and time to land and take off at the Naia, which is one reason for delays in commercial flights that carry hundreds, Lim explained.
He added that Luzon must have a new gateway airport and Clark to handle both northern and southern markets.
“We need two international airports. The millions of passengers from Pasay, Parañaque, Cavite and Batangas, for example, should not travel North via the streets of Metro Manila to fly. The same goes for those from Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Pangasinan, who do not have to travel to Manila,” he said.
At the same time, he said this will help ease the traffic problem in Metro Manila, since both airports are strategically located.
He earlier said the group could finish the gateway airport project within five years from receipt of its notice to proceed.
Complementing the airport proposal are two other components to be located on a 2,500-hectare property it proposes to reclaim just off the Danilo Atienza Airport: a manufacturing hub and a seaport.
“This would make it convenient for manufacturers to bring in their raw materials and ship out their finished products because the seaport and airport are just next door,” Lim added.