Singapore's
Changi Airport has been tapped to help make over Manila's ageing main
international terminal, voted the world's 'worst' airport and one of the
"most hated" in recent international surveys.
"Changi is consistently voted one of the
best; this was the principal reason why we approached it, and it agreed to
help," said Philippines' Department of Transport and Communications
Undersecretary Rafael Santos.
Changi Airports International (CAI) confirmed
that it is in talks with the department on an advisory role in the upgrade of
Ninoy Aquino International Airport's Terminal 1 (Naia-1). "We will be
sending an advance team to Manila to define the scope of the work," said a
CAI spokesman.
Naia-1 has become a national embarrassment. It
was voted the world's worst airport this year by the travel website
sleepinginairports.com, and the fifth "most-hated" airport by CNN's
Go travel and leisure website. The long litany of complaints includes long
queues at immigration, poor facilities and inadequate and uncomfortable seating.
Aquino himself carried out an impromptu
inspection of the Naia-1's infamous toilets earlier this month, checking that
faucets and hand-dryers worked. 'The President was satisfied,' his spokesman
told reporters.
Naia-1 is used by foreign carriers, including
Singapore Airlines. Critics have long said its rundown appearance gives foreign
visitors a poor first impression of the Philippines.
The terminal is one of three at Naia; the
other two are modern steel-and-glass structures used mainly by flag carrier
Philippine Airlines and rival Cebu Pacific for domestic and international
flights.
While Terminal 3 would be suitable for an
international gateway terminal, foreign carriers have been reluctant to
transfer there until the government and its German-Philippine builders settle a
dispute over payment, which has dragged on for years in courts here and abroad.
The legal wrangle resulted in the terminal being mothballed for several years
before it was finally opened in 2008.
Transport Secretary Manuel Roxas said this
week that an all-Filipino design team will work on improving the look of the
terminal. The rehabilitation includes building a rapid-exit taxiway to reduce
runway waiting times.
CAI's role in Naia-1's rehabilitation is
expected to cover areas such as renovation, increasing capacity as well as
improving operations and the quality of passenger service, said its spokesman.
CAI aims to finalise its role with the
Philippine transport authority by January and 'commence work immediately'
after.
As an airport investing and consultancy firm,
CAI--a subsidiary of the Changi Airport Group--has advised on airport projects
in Abu Dhabi, Brazil, Brunei, Beijing and Russia, among others. It also
operates Saudi Arabia's King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.
Santos said the government wants to tap CAI's
expertise to make a heavily overloaded airport run smoother. Naia-1 was
designed to handle 4.5 million passengers a year; it exceeded that long ago,
handling 7.3 million passengers last year.
Alastair McIndoe
The Straits Times
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