Vol. XXI, No. 228-A [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Saturday, June 21, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
The Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA3) is scheduled to open to accommodate domestic flights "in two weeks," the country’s transportation chief told reporters yesterday, following an international arrival simulation at the facility yesterday.
Transportation and Communication Secretary Leandro R. Mendoza said domestic operations will start at the airport next month and international flights will be accommodated in six months to one year.
"It’s alll systems go. The facilities — all the items needed for domestic operations — are already ready for the eventual opening of the airport very soon," Mr. Mendoza said.
But the Transport chief said that only the main hall of NAIA3 will be opened for domestic operations to initially process about 3.5 million passengers. The whole terminal has a 13-million passenger capacity.
Airlines which will be operating in NAIA3 are Philippine Airline’s PAL Express and Air Philippines, as well as Cebu Pacific. Contracts with Philippine carriers for their transfer to NAIA 3 were scheduled to be finalized yesterday.
PAL officials were not available to comment, while Cebu Pacific Vice-President for Marketing and Product Candice A. Iyog said that the Gokongwei-led airline has yet to see a copy of the contract. "We will review this as soon as it is received," Ms. Iyog said.
Mr. Mendoza said tranferring the operations of international carriers will take more time. "The request of the international [airlines] is at least four months to six months to transfer," he explained.
Mr. Mendoza clarified that even if NAIA 3 operates domestic and international flights in full swing, the Philippines will still need to use the older terminals for local and overseas flights.
"From our statistics, kahit open na for international [flights], we cannot accommodate lahat [all of them]," he said.
"The capacity of our airports is only 18 million, but we are handling 23 million passengers. And this grows at about 18% annually," he explained.
While NAIA 3 may be technically ready in two weeks, Mr. Mendoza said government lawyers still need to address legal issues hounding the controversial airport.
Construction of NAIA 3 was barely finished in 2003 when the Supreme Court nullified the build-operate-transfer contract between the government and Philippine International Terminals Co. (Piatco) over alleged irregularities.
To speed up the completion and opening of the facility, the government expropriated the terminal in 2004, leaving Piatco and German partner Fraport AG up in arms.
Piatco filed a case before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, saying the Philippine government violated their concession agreement. A formal hearing of the case will be held from March 2-18 next year.
In 2007, Fraport lost a separate case it had filed before the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. It wanted to claim $425 million from the Philippine government for expenses in building NAIA 3. It said it would appeal the ruling. — ABLL
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