₱78 B paid to gov’t by NAIA operator

The New NAIA Infrastructure Corp.  (NNIC), the private operator of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has remitted ₱78 billion to the government since winning the bid and taking over the operations of the principal gateway two years ago.

The corporation, a consortium led by San Miguel Corp., also put in almost ₱7 billion in modernization efforts of the airport.

In a statement, New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC) said the ₱78 billion in remittances represents its payments under its concession agreement for the airport as of Aug. 15.

This includes the ₱30-billion upfront payment, an annual ₱2-billion payment, and 82.16 percent of gross airport revenues under the revenue-sharing arrangement.

To recall, NNIC secured the contract to operate NAIA after submitting the highest bid amount and revenue share.

“This is what the concession was designed to do: generate substantial and continuing revenues for the government that can help support public services and infrastructure, while bringing in private sector resources to improve the airport,” said NNIC President Ramon Ang.

NNIC,  led by Ang’s San Miguel Corp. (SMC), is expected to remit ₱36 billion annually, or more than ₱900 billion in revenues to the government over the course of its entire concession period.

The current concession of NNIC runs for 15 years, with an option to extend it for another 10 years.

As part of its concession, the private operator has committed to invest ₱170.6 billion to rehabilitate and modernize NAIA. Nearly two years in, it has already spent around ₱6.8 billion, or four percent of the total.

The investments so far have focused on ongoing repairs, replacement of aging equipment, improvement of passenger processing systems, and capacity expansions.

Among its accomplishments are the expansion of terminal curbsides, rehabilitation of power and air-conditioning systems, and upgrading of baggage-handling systems, among others.

“We have made significant progress in less than two years, but there is still a lot more work ahead. Our investments will continue as we modernize NAIA while keeping the airport fully operational,” said Ang.

NNIC said work is now underway on a ground transportation center at Terminal 3, which aims to consolidate and organize transport services around the airport’s busiest terminal.

It is expected to open a new north wing bus gate at Terminal 2 in September, expanding its ability to handle flights at remote aircraft stands while improving the use of available gate capacity.

Apart from expanding Terminals 2 and 3, NNIC is also tasked with rehabilitating Terminal 1 and repurposing Terminal 4 into warehouse and office space.

NNIC is also looking to begin work on Terminal 5, which is set to rise on the former site of the Philippine Village Hotel and is expected to primarily handle domestic carriers.

In terms of operational changes, NNIC has reassigned airlines across the three existing terminals to improve efficiency, in addition to reconfiguring aircraft parking and airside movements.