- Published on Tuesday, 13 November 2012 21:05
- Written by Recto Mercene / Reporter
The Philippines,
Vietnam and Indonesia were urged by the International Air Transport
Association (Iata) to go easy in tapping private investment in the
development of airport infrastructure, noting that many mistakes had
been made when engaging the private sector in airport development.
The statement,
attributed to Tony Tyler, Iata director general and CEO, appeared in
Capa, a leader in global aviation knowledge that also delivers market
analysis, data and information services.
Tyler noted that private investment in the development of airport infrastructure is an “emerging trend” in
the Asian region.
the Asian region.
He suggested “cross-border regional thinking” for the development of Asia Pacific’s air traffic-management infrastructure.
The country came under
Tyler’s notice after Philippine Airlines (PAL) and San Miguel Corp.
President Ramon Ang said he would present to President Aquino in January
2013 a proposal to build a separate international airport near Manila. Ang’s
statement was corroborated by CIMP Group, a regional universal bank
operating in high-growth economies in the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (Asean), which recently bought part of the San Miguel Group’s
stake in Bank of Commerce, according to InterAksyon.com, online news of
TV5.
“The permanent
solution for the congestion at Manila Naia may ultimately come from a
private-sector proposal by San Miguel Corp. to the government to build a
completely new airport on the outskirts of Metro Manila, in the
province of Bulacan,” CIMB said.
The planned
international airport is about 45 kilometers northwest of Makati City,
and closer to Metro Manila than the Clark International Airport, which
is 100 km from Makati, the report said.
“The Bulacan airport
will also be linked to the Makati business district via a six-lane
‘skyway,’ suggesting that access will be via an elevated highway in
order to bypass Manila’s infamous traffic congestion,” it added.
Ang had said the new airport will have four runways and will span 2,000 hectares.
The San Miguel group
had also proposed to the government a new line of the light-rail
transit— the so-called MRT 7— that would run from North Avenue in Quezon
City to San Jose del Monte in Bulacan.
According to the CIMB
report, San Miguel’s plan is to have the new airport completed by 2015,
with PAL potentially contributing $500 million to the project together
with SMC and other investors.
“A formal submission
to the Philippine government will be put through in early 2013, with
construction planned to begin in the later part of 2013 together with a
South Korean contractor,” the Malaysian bank said.
Tyler also noted that
the Korean government was considering private-equity participation in
Incheon airport, saying: “I am not advocating for or against private
participation. But there have been enough mistakes made when engaging
the private sector in airport development.”
He said these mistakes should not be repeated.
“When governments work
with private investors to develop infrastructure, they must establish
an effective economic and service-level regulatory framework to ensure
that the national interest is well protected. That means ensuring that
air connectivity is both cost-effective and efficient,” said Tyler.
He cited the example
of Delhi Airport, where the 46-percent concession fee is making the
airport unaffordable for airlines. Despite several appeals from the
industry, the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority approved an increase
of 346 percent.
“We must not repeat
the mistakes made in Europe where efforts to implement a Single European
Sky are stalled because states are not delivering,” he said.
The annual cost of
airspace fragmentation to the European economy is estimated at over €5
billion annually and the cost to the environment is 16 million tons of
carbon-dioxide emissions.
Tyler urged the
industry to take on a leadership role in the further development of a
regional approach to traffic management in Asia Pacific.
“Aviation is a vital
part of Asia’s economy, supporting 24 million jobs and nearly
half-a-trillion dollars of GDP. Connectivity, facilitated by aviation,
is a critical link to markets and a generator of wealth—both material
and of the human spirit,” said Tyler, speaking to delegates at the
Association of Asia Pacific Airlines Assembly of Presidents in Kuala
Lumpur last weekend.
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