THE MANILA International Airport Authority (MIAA) can rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on its own, after completing the upgrade of airside facilities, the Transport department said.
“The upgraded NAIA airside facilities show that MIAA can pursue development projects at the gateway on its own,” the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said in a statement.
The NAIA’s upgraded airside facilities were inaugurated on Tuesday.
“The MIAA is confident that when additional airside related projects are completed within the years 2021 and 2022, it can, on its own, achieve the goal of 60 commercial flight movements per hour,” the DoTr said.
“This is a more practical approach, rather than waiting and being dependent on the unsolicited proposal’s approval,” it added.
Manila’s main airport has been operating beyond its 30.5 million passenger capacity, handling 45.3 million passengers in 2018, 42 million in 2017 and 39.5 million in 2016.
The MIAA board had revoked the P109-billion NAIA rehabilitation project proposed by Megawide Construction Corp. and its foreign partner GMR Infrastructure Ltd. It also rejected the appeal filed by the Megawide-GMR tandem.
Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said MIAA General Manager Ed V. Monreal had spearheaded improvements at the NAIA terminals even before any talks of unsolicited proposals.
“Nagpapakita lang na walang hinto, pandemic or not, walang hinto ang pagbabago dito sa NAIA (This shows there’s no stop, pandemic or not, there’s no stopping changes at the NAIA,” he said during the event. — Arjay L. Balinbin