A consortium comprised of All-Asia Resource Reclamation Corp. and Belle Corp. has submitted an unsolicited proposal for a US$12-billion project to finance, construct, and develop an airport in Sangley, Cavite.
The consortium, named Sangley Airport Infrastructure Group, Inc., is proposing to build a new regional airport hub, which will be called Philippine Sangley International Airport (PSIA) and which can accommodate about 120 million passengers annually once fully developed.
In a statement, the consortium said the airport development is estimated to cost around $12 billion, and involves a concession period of 50 years.
“The project will start with the reclamation of about 2,500 hectares of land north of the Sangley peninsula, which will be used for the development of airport infrastructure and a commercial establishment to complement the project,” the consortium said.
“Also included in the plan [is] the development of airside and landside facilities and transportation infrastructure to service the passengers and ensure accessibility of PSIA,” it added.
The airport will be designed with two parallel independent runways and sufficient airside and terminal capacity to accommodate future demand for domestic, international and transfer traffic, not only in the Philippines but from all of Southeast Asia.
The new airport hub is also envisioned to compete with other premier Southeast Asia airports like the ones in Bangkok, Seoul, Hong Kong, and Singapore, the consortium said.
The plan also includes rehabilitating the Danilo Atienza Air Base for future use as a general aviation airport to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminals.
The air base, located in the U.S. Naval Station in Sangley Point, Cavite City, is an active military base operated by the Philippine Air Force. In the proposal, it will be turned into an “aerotropolis” district that will accommodate service buildings, office towers, hotels, and conference centers.
“The project supports the government’s multi-airport strategy as it complements other airport infrastructure projects of the government such as Clark International Airport,” the consortium said.
“More importantly, the PSIA development would put the Philippines at par with other progressive countries in Asia in terms of airport infrastructure as it allows an expansion of both runway and terminal capacity with lesser constraints.”
In 2016, the consortium had proposed a $50-billion project to develop an international airport, seaport, and mixed use development on reclaimed land off the coast of Sangley Point.
In 2017, the Department of Transportation started to bid out a P552.867-million airport development project in Sangley, the project intended to alleviate overcrowding at NAIA by transferring general aviation operations to Cavite. Unimasters Conglomeration, Inc. won the project last December. The project involves the asphalt overlay of runway, reblocking of concrete pavement, construction of ramp and drainage system, construction of four hangars, passenger terminal building and other building facilities.
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