The Department of Transportation (DOTr) plans raising fees and charges at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) before the government hands over the management of the country’s main gateway to the private sector in September.
“Its an ongoing review but we expect to issue the administrative order before the handover,” Timothy John Batan, DOTr undersecretary for planning and project development, said.
Batan said the turnover of the operations and maintenance of the NAIA to the New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (formerly SMC SAP & Co. Consortium) is on 14 September 2024.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista had said the airport charges, which include landing and take-off as well as parking fees, will help the San Miguel Group, the new concessionaire of NAIA, increase and recover its investments.
The San Miguel Group earlier projected mobilizing P88 billion in capital investments within six years and at least P122.3 billion for the entire 25-year concession period.
The government projects generating revenue of P900 billion over the course of the concession period, inclusive of the P30 billion upfront payment, P2 billion annual payments and 82 percent government revenue share.
In March, the NNIC (formerly SMC SAP & Co. Consortium) signed the P170.6-billion contract to operate, maintain and upgrade NAIA for 15 years, extendible for another 10 years.
The NAIA project requires capital investments to improve airport facilities consistent with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and other internationally accepted standards.
