Following the technical glitch that has shut down communications and flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on New Year’s Day, Senator Grace Poe renewed her call for the government to tap the private sector to modernize the country’s airspace.
She has been pressing on the privatization of NAIA’s operations and maintenance in order to address the efficiency and safety of the growing number of travelers and staff, which were firstly laid out and discussed in 2017, where a “mega consortium” involving reputable companies to do the job was thought of.
“Can you imagine if we [have] awarded it to them in 2018 or 2019? During the pandemic, it would have been a downturn for them, but they could have rehabilitated the airport easily because there wasn’t so much activity during that time,” said Poe, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Services.
In a further example, Poe talked about the successfully-built passenger terminal at Mactan-Cebu International Airport that was completed in 2018 which made it a world-class model of how privatization of an airport works.
“We’ve seen this example in Cebu, and I think that GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. has done a fairly good job in designing the airport and running its operation,” said Poe.
“I believe it’s time for this. We still need the Bulacan airport because no matter what improvements you do with the terminals in NAIA or the Manila International Airport, you will never have more than two runways at this point, but you can always improve efficiency,” she further said.
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