The Government of the Philippines through its Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Conglomerate San Miguel Corp.’s (SMC) has formally signed the contract for the development of the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan province. 

The PHP734 billion (US$13.9 billion) airport facility is set to decongest the air traffic in the Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia). The groundbreaking of the project is expected to be done before the end of 2019 with its first phase to be operational in four to six years from the start of construction. 

The new airport project will be developed on about 2,500 hectare-property in Bulakan, Bulacan. Once fully completed, it will consist of at least four parallel runways and a passenger capacity of about 100 million annually. 

SMC is yet to announce its partner for the operation of the airport but it is in discussion with South Korea’s Incheon International Airport operators.