The Philippines expects to proceed with several airport privatizations in the coming months and years. In mid-September, the recently awarded concession for the country’s busiest airport, Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL), was handed over to the San Miguel-led New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation (NNIC).

The NNIC consortium comprises San Miguel Holdings (a home-grown multinational conglomerate), RMM Asian Logistics, RLW Aviation Development, and Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC).

When the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) signed the concession agreement in March, the Marcos government was keen to stress its unwavering focus on infrastructure public-private partnerships (PPPs) and fostering stronger collaboration between the public and private sectors.

Commenting on the MNL concession, Public-Private Partnerships Center Executive Director Cynthia C. Hernandez said: “It is a significant milestone in the Philippine infrastructure landscape, highlighting the government’s commitment to its Build-Better-More program. We are confident that the streamlined process this project underwent will serve as a blueprint for future Philippine PPP projects.”

That process has been helped by the existence of the PPP Center which has pulled together, in one place, the expertise necessary to give investors confidence and enable support from vital organizations such as the World Bank when it comes to financing.

The MNL privatization is claimed by the government to be one of the swiftest ever undertaken in the country. In a statement, the PPP Center said: “The NAIA concession agreement achieves the distinction of being the fastest PPP project to progress from submission to the NEDA Investment Coordination Committee for approval, to concession agreement signing.”

Another airport PPP in Mindanao is also set for a handover at the end of October, with further projects in the pipeline.

Below AirportIR looks at how the Philippines has set up its airport privatization program in a way that facilitates the speedy transfer of large infrastructure assets to private management. Could this be a model that other countries should follow?

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