BULAKAN, Bulacan – The construction of the terminal building for the New Manila International Airport (NMIA) in Bulakan, Bulacan is expected to begin in 2026, with approximately 80 percent of land development, particularly land piling along the Manila Bay shoreline, already completed.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced this during an inspection and project briefing conducted by the Regional Project Monitoring Committee (RPMC), led by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).
According to Engineer Abelardo Sore Jr., DOTr project manager for NMIA, the terminal building will rise on a 2,500-hectare site, designed by San Miguel Aero City Inc. (SMAI) to include five wings and 240 boarding gates.
Once completed, the airport will be capable of handling between 35 million to 100 million passengers annually, positioning it as one of Southeast Asia’s largest air transport hubs.
Behind the terminal, plans are underway for four parallel runways, with construction on the first two scheduled to start soon.
Engineer Norberto Conti of SMAI noted that the remaining land development requires an additional 33 million cubic meters of sand to complete the reclamation works. If the timeline stays on track, the terminal construction could start in 2026, with full airport operations expected by 2028.
The NMIA project is being developed under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. Under this model, the private sector, represented by San Miguel Corporation, funds, constructs, and manages the facility, which will eventually revert to government ownership upon expiration of the concession period.
San Miguel Corporation was awarded the concession by the DOTr in 2019, and subsequently secured a 50-year franchise through Republic Act 11506, passed in 2020. The airport’s total estimated cost is P735 billion, of which P536 billion has already been registered with the Board of Investments (BOI).
Complementing the airport is a network of 21 planned access roads and expressways, including the eight-kilometer spur road from the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) connecting Marilao and Balagtas, as well as the Northern Access Link Expressway (NALEX), currently under construction. (MJSC/VFC, PIA Region 3 – Bulacan)