A new entity officially took over the operations of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Saturday, Sept. 14.
The New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation, a consortium led by top conglomerate San Miguel, is looking at elevating the country’s premier gateway and air transport hub to world-class status.
The takeover falls under the public-private partnership scheme where the private entity will manage the rehabilitation, operations, and maintenance of the airport.
The consortium, whose members invested a total of P144 billion for the project, promised changes that would be felt by the public as early as the Christmas season this year.
During the handover ceremony at Terminal 3 on Friday night, NNIC chairman Ramon Ang promised it would mean more jobs, more tourists, and a stronger and more prosperous country.
Last year, passenger volume at NAIA was at 45.3 million, representing a 47-percent increase over the previous year’s.
The NNIC is mandated to raise the passenger capacity to 62 million per year from the current 35 million. It is also tasked to increase aircraft movement on runways, from 40 to 48, to make it compliant with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Standards.
NAIA has been notorious for many years for the poor state of its facilities, including faulty air conditioning, occasional power outages, unreliable navigation systems, and confounding terminal assignments.
Reports of corrupt immigration officers and security personnel are not new. Most recently, reports of bedbug infestation of some seats proved frustrating but not necessarily surprising.
This early, then, the consortium should address concerns that it would charge higher fees to the public even before any improvements become visible.
Some groups have also pointed out the delays being faced by San Miguel’s other big-ticket infrastructure projects and these delays’ effect on the Naia deal.
The public expects much from the new airport managers, given their financial muscle and technical expertise to take charge of the airport for the next 15 years, and if needed, for 10 more.
Airports are an indication of how seriously a country takes itself and its image before the rest of the world. Our premiere gateway gives tourists and investors their first taste of what it is like to be here, and do business here.
As more people travel by air, so does the demand for transparent and high quality airport operations intensify.
Can our top airport ever truly shed the notoriety of being a traveler’s nightmare? We will track the course of the new manager’s efforts, and keep them – and their public partner – accountable every step of the way.
