The Department of Transportation targets to award the operation and maintenance of the highly-congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to a private firm by early 2024.
Jonathan Gesmundo, executive assistant to DOTr Secretary Jimmy Bautista, said in a TV interview that NAIA is likely to be awarded to a new management within the “first quarter of next year” if the bidding process proceeds smoothly.
DOTr is beginning discussions with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to determine the next steps for the process. It can be recalled that a mega consortium of seven conglomerates led by Alliance Global Inc.’s Kevin Tan proposed a P100-billion project to rehabilitate and upgrade the country’s biggest airport.
“Bakit namin pinush itong privatization? Una iyon na nga, yung highly congested na NAIA, kailangan na ma-idecongest iyan. We will further improve, maximize Clark and then idikit mo pa yan sa ginagawang Bulacan airport,” Gesmundo told One News. “So when all of these three airports, napagana natin, napakaganda ng coordination, complementation ng 3 airports.”
NAIA faced three power outages between January to June, all happening during peak travel periods that led to the displacement of thousands of passengers and hundreds of flight cancellations.