San Miguel Corp. said it expects to complete the construction of a new international airport in Bulacan province at a cost of $15 billion or P750 billion in five years, once the government approves the project.
“We will build it with no government guarantee and no subsidy, no strings attached to the government. Based on our estimate, the construction of the new airport will take at least five years,” San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said.
“The project will help grow our economy and tourist arrivals,” he said.
Ang said the the company was looking at Filipino partners in the proposed international airport in Bulacan.
“We will look for partners, our priority is Filipino partners,” he said.
The Department of Transportation earlier granted an original proponent status to San Miguel to construct an airport with at least four runways and covering 2,000 hectares in Bulacan near Manila Bay.
All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp., a consortium led by retail tycoon Henry Sy Sr. and the Tieng family also submitted an unsolicited proposal to build a new international airport south of Manila in Sangley Point, Cavite.
ARRC plans to reclaim 2,500 hectares at Sangley Point. The company expects to complete the reclamation in 12 months.
The new airport would be designed to have a capacity of 50 million to 100 million passengers for completion in five years.
These two projects are expected to affect the expansion plants of Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the current main gateway in Parañaque City, and Clark International Airport in Pampanga province.
State-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority is currently bidding out the development of a P12.55-billion new passenger terminal in Clark International Airport.
The project aims to construct a new passenger terminal building and accommodate 8 million passengers per annum and build and install all required associated facilities, both landside and airside, to support the operations of the new terminal.
The construction period is between 2017 and 2020.
International Air Transport Association director-general and chief executive Alexandre de Juniac, however, said Clark is too far from Manila as an alternative to Naia.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency said passenger traffic in the Philippines was expected to reach 101.49 million by 2040.