The major conglomerate will be operating the Philippines’ main gateway.
In a conference on Friday, February 16, the Philippines’ Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced the winning bidder for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) rehabilitation project.
SMC SAP & Co., a consortium led by San Miguel Corporation, will be handling the operations of NAIA for 15 years, with an optional extension for another 10 years.
This includes the entirety of its runway, baggage handling, aircraft management, maintenance, and the upgrading of existing facilities and the four terminals of the airport.
The winning group — composed of San Miguel Corporation, RMM Logistics, RLW Aviation Development, and the Incheon International Airport Corporation — offered the government an 82.16% share in the revenues, well over the bids submitted by their competitors.
The GMR consortium, led by in Indian-based firm GMR and Filipino company Cavitex Holdings, Inc., proposed a 33.3% share for the government.
Meanwhile, the Manila International Airport consortium presented a 25.91% share.
DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista noted that the privatization process took more than three decades.
It was first floated during the term of late President Fidel Ramos in the ’90s, and remained in limbo after four administrations.
Moreover, the NAIA rehab project is also notably one of the “fastest solicited PPP (public-private partnership) projects of the Philippine government,” Bautista said.
The project was initiated in February 2023 and took in proposals until August 2023.
Upon the completion of the rehabilitation program, the government projects that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport will double its overall annual passenger capacity across its terminals from 31 million to 62 million.
Aside from NAIA, San Miguel is also spearheading the New Manila International Airport (NMIA) in Bulacan, which is scheduled to partially open in 2027 and will have an estimated capacity of 200 million passengers per annum once fully developed.