The transportation department has received the feasibility study done by the Japan Inter-national Cooperation Agency (Jica) for the new gateway that is seen to replace the aging Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).
“We’ve gotten the feasibility study for the Sangley Airport, and we are now processing it. It will cost roughly $13 billion,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said. Earlier estimate on the project cost was pegged at $11 billion.
Earlier, Abaya admitted that the multibillion-dollar contract to construct Sangley Airport will not see itself take the center- stage during this administration’s reign, as this critical deal will have to undergo several approvals before being placed on the auction block. The least that he could do is to get the $13-billion project approved by the several bodies under the National Economic and Development Authority.
Two groups—San Miguel Corp. and All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp.—have offered to pursue the construction of a $10-billion airport to replace the aging airport. The government is pursuing the deal to modernize the aviation sector in the Philippines, particularly in its capital, Manila, where the four terminals of Naia are already bursting at the seams.
Jica has predicted that this year would mark the start of the main gateway’s dark days. The airport is expected to handle some 37.78 million passengers, way beyond its 30-million annual passenger capacity and a few notches up from its maximum capacity of 35 million passengers per year.
The Japanese consultants had proposed that the new international gateway be constructed in Sangely Point in Cavite City to meet the parameters set by the transportation agency. The future airport will boast of four runways, which can handle 700,000 aircraft movements per year. It will have a rated capacity of 130 million passengers annually.