San Miguel chief Ang sets opening of Bulacan airport in 2025

The P740-billion New Manila International Airport in Bulacan is set to be opened in 2025.

This was announced by San Miguel Corp. president and COO Ramon Ang after the formal opening of the Skyway Stage 3, the 18-kilometer elevated toll road connecting the South Luzon Expressway and North Luzon Expressway.

In a statement, the SMC chief said work has started for the construction of the NMIA in Bulakan, Bulacan.

With this, Ang set the opening date of the massive airport project for 2025.

In December last year, SMC awarded Dutch dredging firm Boskalis a $1.73-billion contract to restore land at the project site in Bulakan town.

In August 2019, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) formally awarded the contract to build and operate the Bulacan airport project to San Miguel Holdings Corp., the infrastructure unit of SMC.

Both parties signed the concession deal for the New Manila International Airport on September 18, a month and four days after SMC received the notice of award for the contract.

The project involves the construction, operation, and maintenance of a 2,500-hectare airport in Bulakan, Bulacan. The development includes a passenger terminal building with airside and landside facilities, an airport toll road, and four runways.

The gateway has a design capacity of 100 million passengers a year, but can be expanded to 200 million, and is targeted to accommodate 240 aircraft movements per hour.

It will be connected to the North Luzon Expressway through an 8.4-kilometer tollway to be constructed as part of the project.

Apart from the airport, SMC is also working on another expressway project aimed at connecting the east and west parts of Metro Manila.

“We will continue work to further decongest Metro Manila by linking east and west of the metropolis, through the Pasig River Expressway (PAREX) project,” Ang said.

The Pasig River Expressway project is a 19.4-kilometer, six-lane elevated expressway along the banks of the Pasig River that will complete the north-south, east-west link, connecting R-10 in Manila, Edsa, and C5 and decongesting Rizal, Cainta, and Marikina.

It will provide faster, alternative access to the business districts Makati, Ortigas, and BGC.

Ang said the project can be completed by 2023.

Meanwhile, the ongoing Skyway Extension project, which will extend Skyway’s reach in the south, to Susana Heights, Muntinlupa, is set for completion this year.

Both the PAREX and Bulacan airport projects are to be connected to the Skyway system, further extending the country’s infrastructure network, according to Ang.—AOL, GMA News