Gov’t studies plan to build more Naia runways

The government is studying a proposal to ease air congestion at the busy Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) with the construction of a badly needed parallel runway, but several challenges, including how the plan will affects hundreds of homes, still need to be resolved, Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said.

The country’s busiest airport only has a single runway, and it cannot keep up with the increase in traffic, causing delays in departure and landing times and losses for airlines.

Abaya said that under the proposal, the government would need to build a P2-billion parallel runway to increase landing and take-off movements by about 25 percent from the current 40 movements per hour.

The proposal, made by San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang, calls for the construction of a second runway within a period of 18 months. But its implementation can be tricky because it involves the expropriation of land with an estimated 600 homes of informal settlers and private individuals, Abaya said.

It is not immediately clear how much the government will spend to expropriate the land.

“A second runway is almost a no-brainer,” Abaya said. “It seems logical even to [Finance Secretary Cesar] Purisima and even President Aquino himself…. Definitely it’s a quick fix to congestion.”

San Miguel is part owner of flag carrier Philippine Airlines. It reported losses of about $2 million a month due delays brought on by airport congestion.

Earlier, San Miguel proposed the construction of a $10-billion four-runway international airport in the Manila Bay area, describing it as its long-term solution to air traffic congestion.