The Department of Transportation (DOTr) looks to award the P170 billion contract to expand and rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) by December this year.
Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said the agency is finalizing the terms of reference (TOR) approved by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) prior to the publication of the invitation to bid for the NAIA rehab project.
He calculated the publication of the invitation to bid should be done in the first week of August, allow two or three months for interested parties to submit their bids, open them by November and award the contract the following December, Bautista said.
“The financial closing will take about three to six months, so hopefully by the middle of 2024 the winning bidder can start the concession agreement,” he said.
The DOTr and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), serve as co-grantors of the 15-year project with an option for a 10-year extension.
Privatizing the NAIA aims to address longstanding issues such as the inadequate capacity of its passenger terminal buildings and restricted aircraft movement. It also aims to boost its annual capacity from 35 million to at least 62 million passengers and increase air traffic movement from 40 to 48 per hour.
The overall passenger experience and service quality is seen enhanced as long queues are prevented, waiting times abbreviated, among other passenger inconveniences.
The NEDA board chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., earlier approved the solicited proposal to rehabilitate, operate, expand and transfer the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The project is formally referred to as the Solicited NAIA PPP Project.
With the approval of NAIA rehab under solicited mode, NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan had said that the unsolicited proposal of Manila International Airport Consortium (MIAC) was already “de facto closed.”
Balisacan, however, encouraged the MIAC to participate in the public bidding for the NAIA rehab project.
MIAC, whose members include six of conglomerates such as Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Alliance Global-Infracorp Development Inc., Filinvest Development Corp. and JG Summit Infrastructure Holdings Corp. earlier said that its P267 billion unsolicited offer would be the “fastest route” to rehabilitate and modernize NAIA.
