Airport PPPs taking off under Marcos

The government, under President Marcos, has made it clear right from the start that it will turn over as many airports as it can to the private sector.

- By ELIJAH FELICE ROSALES

And if it is any indicator of commitment, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) in September turned over the key to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to a private group led by San Miguel Corp. (SMC), which would undertake its P170.6 billion rehabilitation for 15 years.

The group, called the New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC), is tasked to raise airport capacity to 62 million per annum and speed up aircraft movement to 48 an hour.

Apart from this, the NNIC—as pledged during the bidding process—will remit 82.16 percent of NAIA revenues, excluding passenger service charges (PSC), to the government. The NNIC also settled P30 billion in upfront fee, and the consortium will remit P2 billion in annuity payment.