June bidding for NAIA’s rapid exit taxiways eyed

MANILA, Philippines — Bidding for the P300-million construction project of two rapid exit taxiways (RETs) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) could begin in June.

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has been eyeing the setup of RETs as one of the solutions to avert flight delays, a pet peeve among flyers, at the NAIA.

MIAA assistant general manager for operations Ricardo Medalla Jr., said the RETs would reduce to at most five seconds the time a plane that just touched down occupies the runway, allowing another aircraft to land.

RETs basically allow aircraft to exit the runway at speeds of 65 kilometers per hour to 93 kph and give way to other landing planes.

Normally, a newly landed plane uses the runway for two to three minutes and prolonged aircraft occupancy of the runway causes arrival delays, according to Medalla.

“Hopefully the RET construction project will be opened for bidding by June or July,” he said, adding that the project cost would be around P300 million.

The MIAA official said that consultations on RET design alterations have been ongoing. Medalla has explained that once the designs are finalized, they still need to be reviewed and subsequently approved by the Department of Transportation and Communications.

The plan, he said, would be to build two RETs on the west and east sides of primary runway 06/24 but revisions on the design still have to be made based on recommendations of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

“Without these new RETs, landing aircraft at the NAIA need to make a 90-degree turn at the end of the runway after they touch down and make a full stop before proceeding to the terminal aprons,” he explained, adding that the whole process would take about two to three minutes.

The construction of the RETs, Medalla told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, would allow a plane to immediately exit the runway in seconds and give way to other landing aircraft making the activities “almost simultaneous.”

Last month, the 640-meter taxiway extension November was opened to help ease air traffic at the NAIA. The P452-million development has cut down a plane’s runway takeoff maneuver time of 80 seconds to just under a minute.

Taxiway November freed up the intersection of primary runway 06/24 and secondary runway 13/31 at the NAIA, which is usually congested by queuing planes preparing for takeoff.

A taxiway is basically an aircraft road that connects runways to aprons and terminals in an airport.  SFM