The Transportation Department is spending up to P700 million to upgrade and rehabilitate Sangley airport in Cavite province to accommodate the operations of general aviation and small commercial aircraft.
“We have the go signal. We will be spending about P600 million to P700 million. It’s just the military base and there will be no reclamation and no seaport,” Transportation Undersecretary for aviation Manuel Antonio Tamayo said.
The department earlier said the removal of general aviation at Ninoy Aquino International Airport would increase the capacity of the terminal by 18 percent to 21 percent.
There are currently 5,100 scheduled commercial weekly flights per week at Naia, according to OAG data. This equates to an average of 365 takeoffs and 365 landings per week. Movements are now capped at 40 per hour.
Naia accounts for nearly 90 percent of all domestic passengers in the Philippines and more than 80 percent of all international passengers. It handled 39.5 million passengers in 2016, including 20.6 million domestic and 18.9 million international passengers.