Five firms interested to join bid for Filipino airports

According to the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) of the Republic of the Philippines, five firms have expressed interest in the latest airport modernisation projects under the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) programme.

The firms include: GMR-Megawide, Metro-Pacific-JG Summit Consortium, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, San Miguel Corp., and Philippine Skylanders Inc. They are expected to submit their qualification documents for these projects today.

The development and operations and maintenance (O&M) of five regional airports will be bid out in two bundles. A 30-year concession contract will be awarded to competent players to handle the O&M of the airports as well as the expansion of facilities. DOTC also notes that most of the airports are operating beyond their design capacity, making these improvements crucial. 

Bundle 1 includes the Bacolod-Silay Airport Project, which is worth PHP 20.26 billion (€394.53 million; $438 million), and Iloilo Airport Project, worth PHP 30.40 billion.

Bacolod-Silay Airport caters to residents of Negros Island and currently serves about 22 percent of air passenger traffic in Western Visayas. The project will cover the expansion of the Passenger Terminal Building (PTB), with an aim to boost its capacity to about 3.1 million passengers annually. As one of the five busiest airports in the country in terms of passenger traffic, the Iloilo Airport will expand in order to accommodate up to 4.5 million passengers annually.

Bundle 2 includes the PHP 40.57 billion Davao Airport Project , the PHP 14.62 billion Laguindinan Airport Project, and the PHP 2.34 billion New Bohol (Panglao) Airport Project.

Davao Airport is the third-busiest airport in the country and the plan is to expand its current PTB by up to 125,000 square meters to increase its annual passenger capacity to 6.7 million. The expansion of the PTB at Laguindingan Airport will boost its annual passenger capacity to 4.3 million and strengthen its position as the main gateway to Northern Mindanao, while the New Bohol (Panglao) Airport will replace the existing terminal in Tagbilaran City, which is currently the 11th-busiest airport in the country and accommodated around 789,800 passengers in 2013 in its 850-square meters area. The new airport is currently being built by Mitsubishi-Chiyoda Joint Venture, and is expected to be completed in 2017 and accommodate up to 1.7 million passengers annually.

The opening of bids is scheduled for January 2016, and the notice of award is set to follow in February.