San Miguel wins mega airport project in Bulacan

Artist’s sketch of the proposed New Manila International Airport that will rise in Bulakan, Bulacan, northwest of the capital.

MANILA, Philippines — Conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) was formally declared winner of the P735 billion New Manila International Airport, a massive gateway that will rise northwest of the capital in Bulacan province. 

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Wednesday announced that it issued the notice of award to SMC’s infrastructure subsidiary San Miguel Holdings Corp. 

This marks an important step in SMC’s plan to finance, build, and operate what will become the country’s biggest airport in Bulakan, Bulacan in four to six years. 

“Once operational, this new airport will give connectivity options to our citizens,” Reuben Reinoso, DOTr undersecretary for planning, said.

The project is also expected to decongest Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), where air traffic delays are a frequent occurrence. 

The New Manila International Airport will rise on a roughly 2,500 hectare-property.

Upon full completion, it will have at least four parallel runways and a passenger capacity of over 100 million, or about three times the current design capacity of Naia. 

SMC, a food, drinks and infrastructure conglomerate that first proposed the project three years ago, was expected to bag the airport project after rivals failed to show up by the Swiss Challenge deadline last July 31. 

 The company operates Boracay Airport and is behind the Metro Rail Transit Line 7, which will link Metro Manila and Bulacan.

SMC’s airport offer also includes an 8.4-kilometer tollway that will connect the New Manila International Airport to the North Luzon Expressway in Marilao, Bulacan.