MANILA, Philippines -- Airport officials will attempt a partial opening of the mothballed Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA 3)in July with trial operations by domestic carriers.
Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) officials said on Monday they were holding talks with Cebu Pacific Air and Philippine Airlines for a tryout of the controversial new terminal.
The terminal was more than 90 percent completed in 2002 when the Supreme Court voided a multi-billion-dollar contract between the government and an international consortium over graft issues.
An attempt to open the terminal in 2007 was aborted after engineers found structural problems, among them a ceiling that collapsed and weakened beams. Repairs are still underway.
“We will open for domestic operations. We are addressing safety concerns before opening the terminal. We won’t open if we will be endangering domestic passengers,” said MIAA development and corporate affairs chief Tirso Serrano said.
Since the repairs began, Serrano said MIAA’s engineering consultants deemed portions of the terminal safe for operation and told the agency “it can’t be all that bad.”
“We will identify a section that can be safely operated. It will be a phased transfer, but this is a temporary arrangement. We can say that for sure Terminal 3 will operate for international flights eventually,” he said.
Asked how long the interim would be, Serrano said: “It could be one year, it could be three years.”
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