JG Summit willing to partner with SMC to address NAIA problems

Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Wikipedia photo

MANILA — To help address congestion problems in the decades old NAIA terminal, JG Summit Holdings Inc. of Taipan John Golongwei Jr. expressed its willingness to partner with San Miguel Corporation (SMC) for the $10-billion proposed airport project.

“I think it’s a good suggestion. Clearly the limiting factor now is capacity and any plan to increase access to a capital city like Manila should be thoroughly considered,” Gokongwei said.

Gokongwei also noted the holding firm’s interest in creating a low cost passenger terminal building within the SMC’s proposed $10-billion international airport.

“We will certainly consider that if we were approached,” he stressed.

SMC and Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL) President Ramon Ang earlier said that the diversified conglomerate is planning to invite other Philippine Companies including Ayala Corp., the SM Group of retail and banking magnate Henry Sy, and even Cebu Pacific to join the airport project.

Meanwhile, JG Summit which owns Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) is in the middle of a acquiring close to 50 brand new Airbus aircraft through a $4-billion refleeting program.

JG Summit owns listed budget airline Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific) which is in a middle of a $4-billion refleeting program aimed at acquiring close to 50 brand new Airbus aircraft.

The company, which competes directly with PAL, owned by taipan Lucio Tan and SMC, now operates 52 aircraft consisting of 10 Airbus A319, 30 A320, four A330, and eight ATR-72 500 aircraft and is scheduled to take delivery of 11 more Airbus A320, 30 A321neo, and two Airbus A330 aircraft between this year and 2021.

PAL is also presently acquiring 100 brand new aircraft through a massive fleet renewal program where it has placed $9.5 billion order for 65 Airbus aircraft.

With reports from Lawrence Agcaoili