NAIA eyed as park once Sangley operational

MANILA, Philippines — The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) could be shut down and turned into a park once the Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) is fully operational, Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla said yesterday.

In a forum in Manila, Remulla said the SPIA – targeted to be fully operational in six to eight years – is seen to be the long-term solution to the congestion problem that has been hounding NAIA.

He said while he proposed that the NAIA be converted into a national park that will cover 750 hectares and be “the lungs of Metro Manila,” the project “is beyond our purview.”

He said once the SPIA reaches its “ultimate phase,” in which it can serve 130 million people per year, NAIA could already be “phased out” and turned into a park.

Remulla said while President Duterte and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III were ecstatic over the idea, “they said it is up to the next president… to take cognizance of the project.”

Duterte inaugurated the new airport last Saturday.

The consortium of MacroAsia Corp. and Beijing-run China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC) will be Cavite’s joint venture partner for the first phase of the SPIA, which will include a runway with an annual capacity of 25 million passengers and the 4.6-kilometer Sangley-Kawit connector road.

He insisted that the project will have no sovereignty issues since there are enough safeguards in the contract.

Remulla said the provincial government can step in and control the project if officials see the consortium is not being handled properly.

The $4-billion first phase of the project, which he said has “no cost to the national government and without any sovereign debt or guarantee,” is expected to be partially operational by 2022 and have full operability by 2023. 

The cost of the second phase, which will have two runways with an annual capacity of 75 million passengers, will be $6 billion and will be constructed over four years. 

The “ultimate” phase will have four runways, with an annual capacity for 130 million passengers.