NAIA privatization plan for operations only – Bautista
DEPARTMENT of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime J. Bautista clarified on Tuesday, January 24, that the assets of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) will remain with the government even if the country’s main gateway operations will be managed by the private sector should the plans to privatize push through.
Bautista echoed the statement of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. that the government has no plans to privatize the country’s main airport, explaining that the operations will be managed only through a concession agreement.
“Ang ibig sabihin ng Presidente, hindi naman natin ibibigay sa private sector yung assets ng NAIA. Ang ibig niya sabihin, it’s the private sector who will manage the operations through a concession agreement,” the transport chief said in a Malacañang press briefing.
The concession agreement will indicate that aside from operating and maintaining the airport, the private sector will also expand and upgrade the airport facilities to deliver the required “Level of Service” (LoS) and provide “improved services to passengers and other airport users.”
Moreover, the government will also own all improvements and upgrades done by the private sector. At the end of the concession period, the private sector will return to the government to manage airport operations.
Bautista cited the cases of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and the Clark International Airport (CRK), which are both operated by the private sector via a concession agreement.
“Yung asset remained with the government but yung operations ay ginagawa ng private sector,” the transport chief explained.
“Sa Cebu, [the airport] is operated by GMR-Megawide although yung asset talaga ay asset naman ng gobyerno kaya hindi naman na-privatize yung infrastructure. This is also the same with the operations of Clark International Airport,” he added.
