Megawide Construction Corp. and partner India-based GMR Infrastructure Ltd. has secured original proponent status (OPS) from the government for the development of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after the previous proponent backed out due to financing issue. 

Megawide said in a disclosure that the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) last July 15 granted them OPS for the development of NAIA. 

“The decongestion and rehabilitation of NAIA is vital to sustainably supporting the air traffic needs of our national capital region. Megawide has always been supportive of our government’s vision to improve and modernize the airport infrastructure in the Philippines and we are committed to bringing our experience in airport operations and management, and engineering excellence to the country’s main gateway,” Louie Ferrer, Megawide managing director for Transportation said. 

“We believe in the potential of NAIA and we see its vital role in our economy’s recovery and continuing development. As our main gateway, it is a symbol of our Philippine identity and its rehabilitation will be a big step towards achieving our vision of a First-World Philippines,” he continued. 

Ferrer said that the Megawide-led consortium is now awaiting the next steps from the government.

To recall, Megawide offered to develop NAIA for $3 billion and a contract period of 18 years on March 1 , 2018. 

The consortium’s $3-billion investment proposal would include all airside, terminal and landside improvements, which would be done in three phases.

The Megawide proposal does not include building a third runway. Even without it, Megawide estimates it could increase terminal capacity to 72 million against the competitor’s estimate of just 65 million.

The consortium said the solutions would increase airfield capacity to 950 to 1,000 aircraft movements per day, representing a 30-percent to 35-percent increase from the current 730 aircraft movements a day. 

For peak hours, the consortium will increase Naia’s peak hour aircraft handling capacity by 50 percent from 40 to 60. Within 24 months of taking over operations, the consortium will also rehabilitate and expand the existing terminals, which will roughly double the space and result in over 700,000 square meters of terminal area. 

Once completed, both the airside facilities and the terminals will be able to handle a total annual throughput of 72 million passengers. 

NAIA Consortium earlier informed the government that they will no longer pursue the project because they were not confident about financing the project. 

The P102-billion NAIA rehabilitation project was proposed by NAIA Consortium that includes Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp. and JG Summit Holdings Inc.

The NAIA Consortium was supposed to be implemented in three phases from 2021 to 2024.