All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp., a consortium led by tycoon Henry Sy and the Tieng family, submitted an unsolicited proposal to the Duterte administration to convert a military airbase in Sangley Point, Cavite into a P3.3-billion budget airport terminal.
AARC vice chairman Edmundo Lim told reporters the proposal was to convert Danilo Atienza Airbase, formerly known as Sangley Air Station and which is currently being used by Philippine Air Force in the northern tip of Cavite, into a general aviation and low-cost airport terminal.
He said the budget terminal would be a part of the proposed Philippine Global Gateway project worth P1.3 trillion which would decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Under the project, ARRC planned to build an international airport, seaport, economic zone and real estate components in Sangely Point.
Lim said the project aimed to reduce air traffic movements at Naia by 20 percent to 32 ATMs per hour from the existing 40 ATMs per hour.
Lim said Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific expressed interest to transfer some of their domestic flights to the proposed budget terminal.
“It is not a very big terminal because you don’t need a very big terminal to handle 1.8 million passengers,” he said.
The new budget airport terminal can handle 300 passengers departing and 300 passengers arriving per hour, he said.
The total investment of the project, excluding international facilities, is estimated at P3.3 billion. The consortium plans to upgrade the present runway and build a terminal at DAA.
“If we get approval by January, the project would be completed by December next year,” Lim said.
ARRC also proposed to reclaim 2,500 hectares at Sangley Point.
The new airport would be designed to have a capacity of 90 million passengers and would be completed in five years.
ARRC would compete with San Miguel Corp. which proposed to build a new international airport in Bulacan, north of Manila, in a revision from its 2014 proposal for a $10-billion airport on reclaimed parts of Manila Bay.
Lim said ARRC’s project was most viable compared to the proposed new airport in Bulacan based on a study made by Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Jica said it did not prefer an airport in Angat-Pandi-Bustos and Obando because it would compete with Clark. There was also the risk of flooding and limited possibility of urban development.
“We have to differentiate our project from all other projects. The objective of the project is to alleviate traffic in Metro Manila aside from the airport and seaport project. It’s really a comprehensive approach to the congestion problem in Metro Manila,” Lim said.