The Diosdado Macagapal International Airport (DMIA), north of Manila, will soon become the Philippines’ main airport, Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel Roxas II told participants to a gathering recently organized by the Joint Foreign Chambers in the Philippines.
“It may take us five to seven years to do it. Building the basic infrastructure may take a shorter time. But moving the airlines, the logistics companies and other support services companies may take that much (up to seven years),” Roxas said.
“The country’s premier international and domestic airport has a maximum capacity of between two and three million passengers a year. It has exceeded the two-million mark and is close to reaching its saturation point,” he pointed out.
According to plans, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) complex will be auctioned off at a cost of P30,000 per square meter to the private sector which may then convert it to a commercial district. The selling price is enough to cover cost needed to modernize DMIA.
In the meantime, the transport department is pushing through with the rehabilitation of NAIA Terminals 1 and 3 to meet international standards. Airport experts earlier found structural defects at both terminals.
North rail system
To make the transfer to DMIA a reality, government has begun negotiating with China for the construction of the North Rail Transit System.
Roxas said the Aquino administration is going back to the project’s original plan of building a high-speed railway system that will transport passengers from Clark to Metro Manila within 45 minutes.
The original plan was to construct a one-rail commuter train system that would only reach Bulacan.
Photo from http://www.dmia.ph/
