$15B just starters for airport — Ang

When completed it will compete among the most spacious airports in Asia.

SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang (PHOTO BY YUMMIE DINGDING)

The proposed New Manila International Airport (NMIA) project that San Miguel Corp. is putting up will have an initial outlay of $15 billion that would come from equity of the Asian conglomerate, SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said.

Ang, in a radio interview, said the project will have modern and world-class facilities that can compare with other sprawling gateways of neighbors in the region.

“When completed it will compete among the most spacious airports in Asia,” Ang stressed.

The budget of $15 billion is a minimum amount and private equity of SMC, which it intends to borrow from banks, he shared.

“Comfort will be a main feature of the airport since there are several destinations from each gate that will also feature a decent comfort room. The target is to have all local and international airlines use the airport,” Ang revealed.

He added that from Makati, with the proposed elevated toll road, the airport will not involve a long travel.

“The condition of the Department of Transportation (DoTr) is for the elevated road to be finished first ahead of the airport, which is expected to be completed in five years,” Ang said.

The SMC chief indicated the project is designed to decongest Metro Manila, since it will provide more and better livelihood opportunities.

“It will also ensure environmental balance and enhance resilience against calamities. In other words, we envision a brighter future for everyone, but we know what’s worth achieving isn’t necessarily easy,” according to Ang.

“We will face rough waters along the way. That’s why we need everybody’s help and support to make this dream a reality,” he added.

The proposed gateway will have four runways, with enough space to expand to six and will be capable of handling up to 100 million passengers per year.

According to SMC, it will be part of a larger infrastructure ecosystem that will connect seamlessly with existing expressways and mass rail transits that will connect it to both southern and northern Luzon.

SMC said this project would be a long-term solution to the country’s airport congestion problem with the country’s main airport operating above capacity — with no space to build additional runways.

The NMIA will fuel trillions of dollars in economic activity annually for the country, bring in about 35 million tourists per year, create an estimated 30 million tourism-related jobs, generate more than a million direct jobs and make lives better for the people of host province Bulacan and the rest of the nearby provinces.

It said the airport would be built taking into large account sustainability and energy efficient measures.

DoTr Secretary Arthur Tugade and Ang signed the contract, which covers a 50-year concession period, for the project last Wednesday.

Under the agreement, SMC will undertake the financing, design, construction, supply, completion, testing, commissioning, and operation and maintenance (O&M) of the new international gateway.

With a design capacity of up to 200 million passengers annually and plans for four parallel runways, the Bulacan International Airport (BIA) is expected to help decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and complement the operations of Clark International Airport (CRK).

Tugade said the Bulacan airport aims to enhance the mobility and connectivity of air-riding Filipinos through an additional choice of gateway.

He noted that with BIA, NAIA and CRK, the riding public will have “freedom of choice.”