San Miguel eyes takeover of NAIA

Conglomerate San Miguel Corporation, the company behind the P740-billion New Manila International Airport (NMIA) in Bulacan, is also eyeing to take over the country’s premier gateway Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

SMC president and COO Ramon Ang has confirmed the plan to GMA News Online.

“Yes, NAIA... [to] operate and maintain only,” Ang said in a text message.

San Miguel’s bid came after the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) revoked the original proponent status (OPS) of Megawide Construction Corp. and its Bangalore-based consortium partner GMR Infrastructure Ltd. to rehabilitate NAIA. 

While MIAA did not provide reason for the GMR-Megawide’s OPS revocation, reports have been circulating later this year that the consortium supposedly failed to meet financial capability requirements to take on the project.

In July, GMR-Megawide was granted the OPS for the NAIA rehabilitation project after talks collapsed with the NAIA Consortium -- composed of the country's biggest conglomerates.

Meanwhile, the SMC is undertaking the P740-billion NMIA airport project in Bulacan.

NMIA's construction is set to begin in the first quarter of 2021 after the conglomerate awarded dredging firm Boskalis a $1.73-billion contract to restore the land at the project site in Bulakan, Bulacan. 

In August 2019, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) formally awarded the contract to build and operate the Bulacan airport project to San Miguel Holdings Corp., SMC's infrastructure unit.

Both parties signed the concession deal for the New Manila International Airport on September 18, a month and four days after SMC received the notice of award for the contract.

Based on the plan, the project involves the construction, operation, and maintenance of a 2,500-hectare airport in Bulakan town; and the development includes a passenger terminal building with airside and landside facilities, an airport toll road, and four runways.

The gateway has a design capacity of 100 million passengers a year, but can be expanded to 200 million, and is targeted to accommodate 240 aircraft movements per hour. It will be connected to the North Luzon Expressway through an 8.4-kilometer tollway to be constructed as part of the project.

SMC just last month successfully raised P20 billion to partly finance the project, as well as other infrastructure investments such as the Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT7). —LBG, GMA News