Transport agency to pursue multiairport policy for NCR

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) disclosed Wednesday plans to pursue a multiairport policy for Metro Manila and nearby areas—a departure from the prevailing “dual-airport” policy that typically meant supporting an international air gateway in Manila and nearby Clark International Airport in Pampanga province.

The direction comes in the wake of the Duterte administration’s move to again entertain unsolicited proposals from the private sector and as congestion in Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport worsens, given rising passenger numbers and limited expansion options.

So far, the DOTr is reviewing a P700-billion international airport and city complex proposed by San Miguel Corp. along Manila Bay in Bulacan.

The proposed airport, which would take six years to build, was anywhere from 20 minutes to more than an hour away from varying points in Metro Manila, assuming added infrastructure like expressways were built. Moreover, it could serve an initial 100 million passengers a year against the 39.5 million passengers that used Naia in 2016—a figure well above its 31 million design capacity a year.