Concessioners at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) are highly optimistic about the potential of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) to enhance the airport experience.
The government is set to sign the concession agreement with SMC for the improvement of NAIA, which is widely recognized as one of the world’s worst airports.
The San Miguel Group has been awarded the P171 billion contract to rehabilitate, operate, and maintain the country’s premier gateway, which has been criticized for issues like infestations, missing bags, thefts, extortion, brownouts, and other technical glitches.
one of the airlines ground handling firms in NAIA, dnata Philippines Chief Ms Margaret L Yu said, we welcomed the news, expressing their excitement about what SMC can bring to the airport.
“We are excited to see what SMC can bring. As for me, I’ve been here since 1991. This is the exciting time, we will see something good for the Filipino people, especially the traveling people who, at the end of the day, will be the ones who will benefit,” said Yu during a forum organized by the Airport Press Club (APC) held at NAIA Terminal 1.
She said that they are looking forward to seeing something that is good for the Filipino people and the traveling public.
Dnata acknowledged that there are areas at the airport that require improvement.
It mentioned that the limited capacity and space are concerning when it comes to ground handling work.
Yu, however, said they will continue to ensure that their clients are happy and will wait for whatever directions the SMC has.
“There are things that need to be changed, need to be improved,” said Yu.
Yu said the positive impact of a modern airport is a comfortable and smooth experience for passengers.
But she acknowledged there are always costs involved. “Of course the riding public is mature, the companies working at the airport are mature enough to handle any improvements, but there are still potential costs.”
The Department of Transportation is expected to sign the agreement Monday in Malacanang, and the airport facility is expected to be turned over to SMC in September this year.
The SMC SAP Company Consortium, consisting of San Miguel Holdings Corp., RMM Asian Logistics Inc., RLW Aviation Development Inc., and Incheon International Airport Corp., offered the highest bid of 82.16% revenue share to the government. The winning bidder will pay a P30 billion upfront cost and an annual annuity payment of P2 billion to the government.
The concessionaire will be responsible for both landside and airside operations of the NAIA, enhancing compliance, safety, security, and capacity to cater to increasing air traffic.
This means modernizing the terminals, optimizing and enhancing the capacity of the airport to 62 million passengers a year, enhancing asset quality and passenger experience, improving the information and technology systems infrastructure, and ensuring reliable operations throughout the concession.
The concessionaire will also be required to undertake works to enhance the compliance, safety, and security of the airport, and optimize and boost airport capacity to cater to the increasing air traffic, following objective parameters detailed in the concession agreement.
