The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines wants to bundle the construction of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 5 to the redevelopment of the Manila’s international gateway, which the government is pursuing under the public-private partnership program.
“I believe in the last board meeting, when they approved PPP for Naia we proposed to include the Terminal 5,” CAAP deputy director general for operations Rodent Joya told reporters on the sidelines of the Philippine Aviation Summit on Friday.
Joya said said the agency was awaiting the decision of the national government on the proposal.
Joya proposed to construct the NaiaTerminal 5 near Merville Subdivision in Parañaque, which could increase Naia’s capacity to 50 million passengers a year from the current 33 million 34 million.
The National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee earlier approved the P74.56-billion Naia Development Project, which aims to transform the Philippines’ main gateway into a world-class modern airport facility.
The private partner will be responsible in upgrading the existing Naia terminals and their further development to increase airports’ capacity.
It will also handle the operations and maintenance covering both landside and airside aspects, except air traffic services, to increase operational efficiency and improve quality of services.
The Transportation Department is also pursuing the construction of a new international airport in Sangley Point in Cavite to replace the old Naia.
The proposed international airport, with an estimated cost of P435.93 billion, can accommodate 55 million passengers and 400,000 aircraft movements annually. It is projected to be operational by 2025.
The new airport at Sangley Point, a former naval station of the US Navy in the northern tip of Cavite surrounded by Manila Bay, is envisioned to replace the congested Naia.
A recent study done by the Japan International Cooperation Agency showed Naia would exceed its designed capacity this year, with its four terminals handling 37.78 million passengers, or above its 30-million capacity.
Passenger traffic by 2040 would reach 101.49 million, according to the Jica study.