MIAA Grants NAIA Original Proponent Status to Megawide-led Consortium
The Manila International Airport Authority has granted Original Proponent Status for the redevelopment of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to the consortium led by Philippine engineering and infrastructure conglomerate Megawide Construction Corporation (Megawide) with its operating partner, GMR. The granting of the OPS was dated July 15, 2020.
“The decongestion and rehabilitation of NAIA is vital to sustainably supporting the air traffic needs of our National Capital Region. Megawide has always been supportive of our Government’s vision to improve and modernize the airport infrastructure in the Philippines and we are committed to bringing our experience in airport operations and management, and engineering excellence to the country’s main gateway,” said Louie Ferrer, Megawide Managing Director for Transportation.
The consortium of Megawide is the same entity behind the transformation of the multi-awarded Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA), the country’s second largest airport. In 2018, CAPA – Center for Aviation, the world’s leading airport and aviation think-tank, named MCIA as Airport of the Year. Since the handover of operations in November 2014, passenger volume steadily increased from 4.5 million per annum to 12.7 million in 2019.
“Our team has transformed MCIA as primarily the country’s top tourism gateway. We aim to contribute our experience in airport development and value engineering to the long-awaited resurgence of NAIA,” said Ferrer.
“We believe in the potential of NAIA and we see its vital role in our economy’s recovery and continuing development. As our main gateway, it is a symbol of our Philippine identity and its rehabilitation will be a big step towards achieving our vision of a First-World Philippines,” he continued.
Ferrer mentioned that the Megawide-led consortium is now awaiting the next steps from the Government. The consortium submitted its proposal for the rehabilitation of NAIA on March 1, 2018 to redevelop and rehabilitate the airport.