Signing an MOU with San Miguel of the Philippines
Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) is likely to be selected as the operator of a 17-trillion-won new airport being promoted in the Philippines.
The corporation said on Nov. 25 that it concluded an MOU with San Miguel of the Philippines at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on Nov. 23 for participation in the development of a new airport in Manila, the Philippines.
The new airport in Manila is designed to be a super-large airport with an annual passenger handling capacity of 100 million with eight passenger terminals and four runways. As a large-scale airport development project, it will cost a total of 17.5 trillion won (US$15.7 billion) and the first phase alone will cost 7 trillion won (US$6.3 billion). A private company will be selected to operate the new airport exclusively for the next 50 years.
San Miguel, the No. 1 company in the Philippine business world, submitted a proposal for the new Manila airport project to the Philippine government in September 2016 and received approval in April based on a feasibility study by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) of the Philippines. San Miguel is highly likely to be selected as the project operator.
Through this MOU, IIAC established a partnership with San Miguel. If the project is awarded to San Miguel, IIAC will participate in the project as an operator of the new airport.
In this case, Korean companies are expected to participate in all stages of the project from construction to operation. The IIAC plans to participate not only in running the new airport in Manila but also in various airport projects in the Philippines. The Philippines is made up of 7,000 islands and has 86 airports in operation. So the nation is a big market in terms of airport operation. Air travel demand is expected to reach 130 million passengers by 2026 from 77.76 million of last year.
IIAC is preparing to become a global airport operator by expanding its overseas business centering on emerging markets and diversifying its overseas business portfolio into new airport development, terminal operation, and equity investment. As a result, IIAC will increase its portion of overseas business which is less than 1% of its total sales to 10% by 2030.
IIAC participated in airport projects in 14 countries including the Philippines, Russia, India, Turkey and Kuwait since 2009. Total orders amounted to US$221.04 million.