DoTC, Japan firm sign pact to complete works on NAIA Terminal 3

MANILA, Philippines—More than three years since it first opened to the public, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 is now well on its way to being completed and becoming fully operational.

Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II on Monday announced the signing of a deal between the government, through the Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC), and the Japanese industrial giant Takenaka Corp. for the completion of works still needed at NAIA 3.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Tokyo this week is considered to be the first legal step to make NAIA 3 fully operational.

“We would like to thank Takenaka Corporation for both being thorough and sincere in negotiating with us,” said Roxas, also the head of the ruling Liberal Party to which President Aquino belongs.

“It was their cooperation that this deal was signed in record time,” he said.

Takenaka Corp. was the original contractor for NAIA 3. Its work at the facility was never finished because the airport was expropriated after the concessionaire, Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) was declared a mere dummy firm for partner Fraport AG from Germany.

Roxas said the signing of the deal signified the agreement between the government and Takenaka on the price at which the remaining work at NAIA was to be done.

Twenty-three different areas of construction are still lacking at NAIA 3, including baggage handling, fire alarm, flight information and closed circuit television surveillance systems.

Since these systems are not installed, NAIA 3 runs currently at just half its original capacity.

Once completed, the 182,500-square-meter terminal will be able to service up to 33,000 passengers daily at peak or 6,000 passengers per hour. It will also have 34 air bridges and 20 contact gates, allowing it to service 28 planes simultaneously.

Some of the operations of Terminal 1 will be transferred to Terminal 3 once the 23 systems are delivered. This will decongest the three-decade-old terminal 1 for a more convenient and efficient passenger experience.

Takenaka is among the so-called “Big Five” contractors in Japan. The family enterprise has built some of the most important buildings in Japan, such as the Tokyo Tower, the Tokyo Dome, the Fukuoka Dome, and the Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel, among others.