Cavite gov’t upbeat on $10-B Sangley airport project

Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla is confident their plan to build a $10-billion international airport complex in Sangley Point will fly, aided by a planned venture with Lucio Tan’s Philippine Airlines (PAL).

Tan is participating in the project through aviation services firm MacroAsia Corp., which joined forces with state-run China Communications Construction Co. (CCCC) to become the sole bidder for the massive airport on the reclaimed land in Manila Bay.Remulla told the Inquirer that PAL planned to move some flights out of Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) and transfer them to Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) once the first phase was completed in four years.

“Their plan, as intimated to us, is to make Sangley their hub,” Remulla said in an interview last week. He said other domestic and international carriers would follow suit once they see the benefits of SPIA.

PAL operates about 300 flights a day in Naia, the country’s busiest air gateway. The flag carrier had previously complained that congestion in Naia was crimping its growth during a time when air traffic demand was rising. In 2017, PAL offered to invest P20 billion in expanding Naia’s passenger Terminal 2, which it uses exclusively. That plan was rejected by the government.

A year later, Tan joined a group of tycoons in their proposal to upgrade and operate Naia. The P102-billion offer won the approval of the board of the National Economic and Development Authority late last year.

Tan’s bid for SPIA suggested the taipan was also considering its long-term expansion once Naia reached its full capacity.

For now, the Cavite government’s public-private partnership selection committee has yet to award the first phase of the SPIA to the CCCC-MacroAsia consortium.

Remulla said there were delays from the Chinese side given the business disruptions due to the coronavirus outbreak. INQ