New Manila International Airport (), also known as Bulacan International Airport (), is an international airport under construction on the coastal areas of Bulakan, Bulacan, north of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. This project aimed at decongesting the existing Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila, is undertaken by the San Miguel Corporation (SMC). The coastal airport is part of township entailing a residential zone, government center, seaport and an industrial zone, which has been legally declared an economic zone and freeport.
Phase-1 under-construction runway and passenger terminal are progressing as scheduled to meet its late 2028 completion date (Nov 2025 update).
A 1945 plan to build a central national airport on reclaimed land in Manila Bay in northeastern Pasay did not materialise.
In 1972, The Manila Times reported that a new airport in Bulacan will be built to replace the Manila's International Airport but even that did not materialise as soon after martial law under Ferdinand Marcos was imposed and the new airport plans were eventually cancelled.
By early 1980s, Manila International Airport (now Ninoy Aquino International Airport) had become congested and the 2012 plan for secondary airport in Manila proposed by SMC-owned Philippine Airlines was also later shelved.
In May 2011, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)'s study on air transport needs within the Greater Manila Area, made a submission to the Philippine government that a new airport was "an urgent need" given that the capacity at the existing NAIA was "already almost saturated." In May 2013, the government responded by adopting a dual-use twin-airport system, which entailed the upgrade of NAIA while also expanding capacity at Clark International Airport. In 2015, JICA recommended the construction of a new airport near Sangley Point in Cavite City to the south of Manila Bay. In 2013, a competing unsolicited proposal by SMC to build a new airport to the north of Manila Bay was rejected by the government, a decision later reversed by the administration of the President Duterte in 2016 who favored multiple airports for the Greater Manila Area.
Consequently, 2017 SMC proposal to build a new airport north of Manila Bay under BOT scheme, was approved in 2018 by the government, and underwent a Swiss challenge where other prospective companies competed against the original project proponent SMC. On 18 September 2019, SMC was awarded the Bulacan airport deal, under which the airport will be fully owned by the Philippine government under the BOT-scheme. On 1 September 2020, Congress approved House Bill No. 7507, granting the San Miguel Aerocity a 50-year congressional franchise "to establish a domestic and international airport", and to "develop an adjacent airport city".
In 2019, SMC contracted three international firms, Groupe ADP Ingénierie, Meinhardt Group and Jacobs Engineering Group (the same builders behind Changi Airport, HartsfieldâÂÂJackson Atlanta International Airport, and Charles de Gaulle Airport) for the design ad construction.
On 14 October 2020, the groundbreaking of the new airport began, and the construction of the phase-1 began on 18 March 2022 which includes the two runways and the terminal buildings of the new international airport. Royal Boskalis, Dutch company contracted for the dredging of site for the new airport, commenced the preparatory work in 2021 and completed the land development in 2024.
Since 2019, several groups had been raising concerns about the environmental impact of the project, such as the increased risk of flooding and impact on the adjacent mangrove forests. SMC responded with a mitigation plan, launched its skills livelihood and relocation training for the affected residents, undertook award-winning "Saribuhay sa Dampalit" Biodiversity Offset Program in Malolos in Bulacan, a site which is s stopover for wader bird migration along East AsianâÂÂAustralasian Flyway and a natural flood protection sink-area.
The proposed airport will feature at least 4 runways, expandable to 6.
It will have a capacity of 200 million passengers per year when fully built, which is about 6 times larger than the current capacity of NAIA. The first phase of the project will include 2 of the 4 runways.