Featured image credit: New Manila International Airport Facebook Page
New airport alert!
Earlier this year, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) launched the Swiss Challenge which would award the winning company the license to build the New Manila International Airport (presently dubbed as the new Bulacan airport). Aspiring contenders were asked to submit required documents with a non-refundable fee of ₱10 million. But after months of waiting, there were no other bidders aside from San Miguel Corp. (SMC). Now, SMC is set to design, construct, and finance the country’s biggest airport yet in the municipality of Bulakan, Bulacan.
The company will begin construction this December 2019 on 2,500 hectares of land. On top of that, SMC’s project is reportedly worth ₱735 billion. This humongous budget aims to decongest the number of passengers in NAIA by making the new Bulacan airport big enough to accommodate 100 million passengers each year and provide at least four parallel runways. Each runway is expected to contain 60 aircraft movements per hour.
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Part of the budget will also be allotted to the construction of an 8.4 km tollway that will link the new Bulacan airport to the North Luzon Expressway in Marilao, Bulacan, aside from other road networks that will easily connect the airport to key areas in Metro Manila. SMC expects the first phase of the new Bulacan airport to be operational four to six months after construction starts.
SMC President Ramon Ang also stated last July, “What we hope to build is a long-term solution — a sustainable and world-class Philippine gateway with enough runways and facilities to meet current and future needs”.
Other benefits of the new Bulacan airport
President Ang also told the press that they want the airport to be a doorway in helping local markets. This especially includes Bulacan’s local fishermen that might be affected by the airport’s construction. “We are in the process of identifying areas where together we can build a fishing community that will last for generations to come. We want Bulacan to eventually become the seafood capital of the Philippines where seafood is exported to other countries, and tourists come in droves to sample them — similar to what happened to Japan’s Tsukiji for so many years.”
Aside from the millions of jobs the airport itself is expected to generate, SMC looks forward to the prospect of Bulacan entrepreneurs taking advantage of this gateway that’s just a stone’s throw away. “Bulacan’s local industries will not only survive, but they will also grow. With a major international airport at their doorstep, fisherfolk, micro-entrepreneurs, and local businesses will have a huge, ready market for their products — and even a means to ship them to other provinces or export them,” stated Ang.
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What do you think of this up and coming new Bulacan airport, AKA the New Manila International Airport? Are you hopeful that it will solve NAIA congestion, or do you think it will do more harm than good? Moreover, do you think it would have been more effective if the new airport was placed somewhere else? While we all wait with bated breath to see this project unfurl, make sure you don’t miss out on flight deals! Join Flight Deals — Philippines to keep yourselves updated with more affordable airfares!
News sourced from Inquirer.net and CNN Philippines.
