Philippines: Burj Khalifa builder in $11-billion deal for Manila’s second airport

Philippines: Burj Khalifa builder in $11-billion deal for Manila’s second airport

Manila: The construction giant that built Dubai’s Burj Khalifa has joined a “super consortium” now poised to build Manila’s second international airport in a project worth about $11 billion, the government has announced. South Korea’s Samsung C&T Corp., with Filipino, German and British partners, recently won the right to build and operate Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA), located south of Manila, under a public-private partnership (PPP) deal. SPIA, also known as Cavite Airport, will be Manila’s second gateway after the single-runway Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). SPIA is an $11-billion (Php617 billion) contract to develop Manila’s second aviation gateway which will have an additional capacity of 100 million passengers per year. Sangley Point Airport (IATA code: SGL | ICAO code: RPLS) is also also known as Cavite Airport — currently, a domestic airport in the Philippines. The airport site itself is planned to be adjacent to the Danilo Atienza Air Base. Commercial operations of Sangley Point as a domestic airport was inaugurated on February 15, 2020, by then-President Rodrigo Duterte, just before the pandemic-driven travel curbs came. NAIA, which has been facing congestion issues pre-COVID, which has been operating at more than 130% beyond its rated capacity since 2018. Following