Vol. XXI, No. 242 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Thursday, July 10, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
AN OVER TEN-YEAR WAIT for the mothballed Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3) to open will end in less than two weeks.
Tirso G. Serrano, Manila International Airport Authority assistant general manager, yesterday said the opening of NAIA-3, delayed numerous times since legal troubles and completion issues hit the project, will finally open on July 22.
"The pronouncement is to start with domestic operations with PAL (Philippine Airlines) Express, Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines," he said.
"Our ultimate goal is to pursue our strategic plan of utilizing the terminal largely for international operations so as to optimize the features of the terminals."
International flights some six months after the opening, or sometime in January next year, Mr. Serrano added.
The terminal’s opening is expected to help alleviate overcapacity at NAIA Terminal 1, Terminal 2 and the old domestic airport.
The current terminals have a combined capacity of only 18 million passengers annually but are being used by more than 20 million.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, along with 400 others flying in from San Francisco, was one of the first passengers to use NAIA-3 when she came home following an official visit to the United States.
The terminal will initially be used at half of its capacity, Mr. Serrano said.
NAIA-3 has been held up as an example of how foreign investors’ fortunes can suddenly change in the Philippines.
Initially conceptualized in the early ’90s with a group of tycoons interested in putting up the funds, it was finally won in 1997, via bidding, by the Philippine International Terminals Co. (Piatco) consortium.
The project broke ground later that year, and both Piatco and the government set 2002 opening target.
Allegations of impropriety led to the Supreme Court nullifying Piatco’s contract in 2003, with the decision ruled as final the following year.
Questions over the legality of the move, and the compensation that needed to be paid, led to the filing of lawsuits in both local and international courts by Piatco and its German partner, Fraport AG.
The cases have yet to be decided with finality.
The government, meanwhile, reached an agreement with contractor Takenaka to finish the facility, with an opening scheduled for 2006.
That plan was shelved after part of the terminal’s ceiling collapsed, and a subsequent review said rehabilitation work had to conducted. — P. L. G. Montecillo
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