Aquino Administration’s First Airport PPP Bid Out Tomorrow

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Major local conglomerates, renowned foreign airport operators vie for DOTC’s Mactan-Cebu International Airport Project

Bid submissions for the Department of Transportation and Communications’ (DOTC) Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) Project are all set tomorrow, 28 November 2013, making it the first airport to be bid out under President Benigno S. Aquino III’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program.

With the country’s transportation modernization efforts getting a shot in the arm following last week’s go-ahead of 5 crucial transport infrastructure projects by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Board, the MCIA Project is expected to net the highest number of PPP bidders yet, having seven (7) pre-qualified groups led by top Philippine conglomerates partnered with renowned airport operators from around the world.

“We know that the world is watching. This is the acid test for our PPP program. The higher the turnout, the more credibility it will mean for our projects,” said DOTC spokesperson Michael Arthur Sagcal.

The 7 bidders pre-qualified last May are: AAA Airport Partners led by the Ayala and Aboitiz companies; the Filinvest-CAI Airport consortium; the Lopez groups’ First Philippine Airports; the GMR Infrastructure and Megawide consortium; the MPIC-JGS Airport consortium led by the companies of Manuel V. Pangilinan and John Gokongwei; SM’s Premier Airport Group; and the San Miguel-Incheon Airport consortium.

The roster of foreign airport operators includes ADC & HAS of Houston Airport, Malaysia Airports Berhad, and those from Singapore’s Changi Airport, South Korea’s Incheon Airport, France’s Aeroports de Lyon, Switzerland’s Zurich Airport, India’s Delhi Airports.

Several key improvements to the project’s terms were approved by the NEDA Board, making it more attractive to bidders and encouraging more competitive proposals. These include extending the concession period from twenty (20) years to twenty five (25) years, including the operation of the apron or aircraft parking area in the project scope, and imposing a twenty five (25)-year ban on the operation of competing airports within the province of Cebu apart from the Bantayan and Camotes Islands.

The MCIA Project will modernize the country’s second-largest aviation hub with the construction of a new world-class international passenger terminal building (PTB) having an 8-million annual passenger design capacity. It will also renovate the existing PTB, which has been operating at over-capacity with 6.7 million passengers going through the structure in 2012.

*Image credits to balita.ph

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