Airport News
Bid submissions for the Mactan-Cebu International Airport expansion project are all set for tomorrow (28 November) with operators of international airports ready to compete for the P17.5bn (£253m) project.
The Philippine Department of Transportation and Communications’ (DOTC) has confirmed it will be the first airport auctioned off under president Benigno Aquino III’s public-private partnership (PPP) programme.
The project is expected to net the highest number of PPP bidders yet, having seven pre-qualified groups led by Philippine conglomerates partnered with airport operators from around the world.
“We know that the world is watching. This is the acid test for our PPP programme. The higher the turnout, the more credibility it will mean for our projects,” said DOTC spokesperson Michael Sagcal.
Foreign airport operators including ADC and HAS of Houston Airport in the USA, Malaysia Airports Berhad, Singapore Changi Airport Group, Incheon International Airport in South Korea, Aéroports de Lyon in France, Zurich Airport in Switzerland and Indira Gandhi International Airport in India, have all collaborated with other entities to bid for the Mactan-Cebu project.
The seven bidders, which were pre-qualified in May, include: AAA Airport Partners led by the Ayala and Aboitiz groups;
Filinvest – CAI consortium;
 First Philippine Airports consortium led by Lopez Holdings; GMR Infrastructure-Megawide consortium; MPIC-JGS airport consortium; San Miguel-Incheon Airport consortium; and Premier Airport group led by SM Investments.
The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) board also approved several changes to the project’s original terms today (27 November) to make the investment more attractive to bidders and to encourage more competitive proposals.
Revisions include the extension of the concession period from 20 years to 25 years and the enforcing of a 25-year ban on the operation of competing airports within the province of Cebu apart from the Bantayan and Camotes Islands.
The project entails the construction of a new international passenger terminal with an annual capacity of eight million, the renovation of the old terminal, and the operation of the whole airport facility.
