Government to Study San Miguel Airport Proposal

The new international airport recently proposed by the San Miguel Corporation will undergo thorough studies by President Aquino's economic managers. According to Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma, the proposal will be referred to the appropriate agencies for review.

Image Source: San Miguel Corporation

"Like all other proposals on new public infrastructures, this would be referred to appropriate agencies such as the Department of Transportation and Communications and the National Economic and Development Authority in order to go through the regular review and vetting process," said Coloma.

The San Miguel Corporation has proposed to construct a new $10-billion modern airport to replace the highly congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The new international gateway would feature four runways. "As we know, Philippine Airlines is the biggest user of our international airport because it's our flag carrier," said Coloma. "It has the most number of planes and there are practical concerns, even as we speak now on congestion in the airport."

Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation and Communications says that in spite of the proposal from San Miguel Group, the government agency intends to continue pursuing studies for the establishment of an international airport at Sangley Point. According to Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya, the government already has its own plans of building a new international airport in Sangley by 2027. The government proposal would also include four runways and would be placed adjacent to where San Miguel Corporation would like to build their airport.

According to Abaya, although the government has seen the design of the San Miguel Airport, they have yet to receive a formal proposal. "The letter was submitted, and we've seen the design, but there's no unsolicited proposal submitted to us yet," said Abaya. The San Miguel Airport still needs to be approved by Philippine regulators. The initial design appears to cross wind direction rather than flying with the wind, which is an essential component for the construction of airport runways.

The government plans to accelerate the project process to evaluate the San Miguel proposal and the Sangley proposal, which uses the formal US naval base in Cavite. "At the end of the day, the government has to choose which the superior site is," said Abaya. "Is it in Sangley, or beside Manila Bay?"

Prior to the San Miguel proposal, the Department of Transportation has been evaluating Sangley Point, Cavite, and Laguna de Bay as possible sites for a new international airport to replace the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The Japan International Cooperation Agency has recommended constructing the new airport at Sangley Point, which is considered accessible as it is within 20 minutes of Metro Manila.

Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines says that the government is going to construct a new parallel runway at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in order to alleviate some of the congestion. The project is estimated to cost P2 billion and will be completed in 2 years. 

The parallel runways would be able to boost the runway capacity at the airport from the existing 40 events per hour to approximately 60 or 70 events per hour. That would enable the airport to grow its capacity to more than 40 million passengers annually. The new parallel runway would only be intended for domestic flights and could accommodate aircraft as large as the Airbus A321 or a Boeing 737-900. The majority of domestic flights in the Philippines are all operated using A320 family aircraft. 

The Japan International Cooperation Agency estimates that passengers travelling through the greater capital region is expected to hit 106.7 million by 2040, compared to the current 31.88 million passengers in 2012.