The new consortium will be taking the operations of the capital’s main airport this week.
On Saturday, September 14, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) will formally hand over the operations of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to the San Miguel Corporation-led New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC).
In a recent forum, the San Miguel group chairman and CEO Ramon S. Ang bared the company’s plans for the Philippines’ primary aviation gateway.
According to the consortium, their short-term plans for the passenger terminals within the next 12 months include improved internet connectivity, additional seating areas, toilets, air conditioning units, elevators, and escalators, and generator sets, as well as a new power sub-station to prevent brownouts.
Meanwhile, in the medium-term, the biggest plan involves the demolition of the Philippine Village Hotel beside the Terminal 2 building to make way for the extension wing of the said passenger terminal.
However, the group and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) is looking to work closely with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), as the abandoned hotel was designed by National Artist Leandro Locsin, who also did the Terminal 1 building.
After which, a terminal reassignment program would be once again initiated by the operators, but will be done in phases to prevent disruption of operations.
Under the plan, Terminal 1 will become exclusive to all international flights of flag-carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), with Terminal 2 being assigned as the home for all domestic flights of PAL and low-cost-carrier Cebu Pacific.
Terminal 3 will then be transformed into an all-international terminal for all other carriers, with AirAsia’s international and domestic flights flying from Terminal 4 or the current Manila Domestic Airport terminal building.
Other domestic flights, especially those using the smaller turboprop planes, are being touted to be moved to the Clark International Airport.
These changes are part of the NNIC’s aim to upgrade the airport’s passenger capacity from the current 35 million per year to 62 million per year in five years.
But airlines have already expressed their concerns and their willingness to enter into a dialogue with the new NAIA management.
Also part of the sweeping changes in the airport operation is increase terminal fees, surcharge, and landing and take-off fees of carriers operating in NAIA.
Under the proposed changes, terminal fee for international flights will increase to Php 950 (from Php 550), and the fee for domestic flights will almost double to Php 390 (from Php 200).
For vehicles entering the airport, a new ramp from the NAIA Expressway (NAIAX) to Terminal 3 and more parking spaces will be added.
Commuters will also look forward to the NAIA T3 Station of the upcoming Metro Manila Subway Project.
NNIC, then-known as SMC SAP & Co., is a consortium led by San Miguel Corporation was chosen by the government to handle the operations of NAIA for 15 years, with an optional extension for another 10 years.
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 NAIA rehab project is also notably one of the “fastest solicited PPP (public-private partnership) projects of the Philippine government,” DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said in the past as the project was initiated in February 2023 and took in proposals until August 2023.
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.