Bulacan airport terminal to begin construction in January 2026 

The passenger terminal building (PTB) of the Bulacan airport will begin construction in January next year, putting the project on track for completion by late 2028, the Department of Transportation said in report by Philippine Star.

DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon said San Miguel Aerocity Inc. (SMAI) committed to starting the construction of the New Manila International Airport (NMIA)’s PTB by January 2026.

If SMAI manages to stay within this timeline, Dizon said the first phase of the airport should be completed and operational by November 2028.

“Completion of Phase 1, which will enable the airport to accommodate 35 million passengers per annum, remains to be November 2028, and operations will start right after that. DOTr is closely monitoring the implementation of NMIA PPP (public-private partnership),” Dizon said.

SMAI is currently developing the land where the airport and its facilities will be built. SMAI, a subsidiary of San Miguel Holdings Corp. under San Miguel Corp. (SMC), manages the 50-year concession for the build-operate-transfer of NMIA.

However, SMC chairman and CEO Ramon Ang said SMAI has faced problems acquiring sand for land development as a result of a presidential order in 2023 to stop all reclamation projects in Manila Bay.

Ang said the issue would force SMAI to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more to construct NMIA on top of the original cost of P735.63 billion.

Apart from this, the shortage in fill sand delayed the completion of NMIA’s first phase by a year, from 2027 as originally planned.

The NMIA, located in Bulakan, Bulacan, is set to become the biggest airport in the Philippines. The first phase of the project can facilitate more than 35 million passengers a year and is projected to generate over one million jobs.

Ultimately, NMIA will feature four parallel runways, supported by airside and landside facilities. In its finality, the airport should be able to handle up to 100 million passengers per annum, as it is expected to decongest air traffic at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Aside from building NMIA, SMC leads the New NAIA Infrastructure Corp. (NNIC), which is in charge of the P170.6-billion project to rehabilitate NAIA.

The NNIC is tasked to increase NAIA’s passenger capacity to 62 million per annum and aircraft movement to 48 an hour to prepare the country’s main gateway for future demand.

SMC Infrastructure unit Trans Aire Development Holdings Corp. also operates the Godofredo P. Ramos Airport, also known as the Caticlan Airport, which serves as the gateway to Boracay.

As such, Dizon underscored how important it is for the DOTr to closely coordinate with SMC on the airports it is developing and operating. He is also confident that SMC would comply with its timelines for NMIA, NAIA and Caticlan Airport.

“I will be discussing Bulacan airport with SMC. I will also be discussing a very important airport to me, which is Caticlan,” Dizon said.

In 2024, infrastructure builder Megawide Construction Corp. won the contract to design and build a new PTB in Caticlan Airport.

Ang wants the new PTB in the airport finished in three years or less, citing the urgency for larger capacity to welcome more tourists in Boracay.

With three airport developments on hand, Ang last year said SMC would focus first on delivering its current pipeline before thinking about bidding for a new one.