The Asian Development Bank (ADB) wants to extend for a month the submission of bids for the P171-billion contract to rehabilitate, optimize and maintain the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
According to documents, the ADB, the transaction advisor of the NAIA, recommended the extension of bid submission by one month, to 29 January next year instead of 27 December this year to give bidders more time to prepare and submit the requirements.
The ADB said the extension would result in more competition and a better financial outcome for the Philippine government.
“It would also provide concrete evidence of the government’s commitment to encourage new players, and foreign investment in Philippine public-private partnerships, without causing undue delay to NAIA’s modernization and the PPP program,” the ADB said.
“Of the six prospective bidders which have been participating actively in pre-bid activities, four – including large, credible international airport operators with no prior investment in the Philippines – have requested an extension,” it added.
The ADB also said prospective bidders have asked for more time to analyze additional information from the MIAA and the DOTR, and to secure their internal corporate approvals, which will take longer in light of the upcoming holiday season.
“If the bid date of 27 December 2023 were to be retained, we expect two prospective bidders with participation by large local corporations to submit bids. They have both submitted unsolicited proposals for NAIA in the past and are thus significantly more familiar with NAIA than the other four prospective bidders,” ADB said.
“We strongly believe that extending the bid submission date would attract more bids, thus resulting in greater competition and a better financial outcome for the government,” the ADB said.
Groups that have bought bid documents include San Miguel Corp., India’s GMR Group, the Manila International Airport Consortium, Spark 888 Management Inc., Asian Airport Consortium, Cengiz Insaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. and the Limak Group of Companies of Turkey.
The DOTr expects to award the contract by the first quarter next year and achieve financial closure by the following quarter.
The DOTr and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) serve as co-grantors of the project, which has a 15-year concession and an option for a 10-year extension.
The NAIA project involves capital investment to improve the airport’s facilities to comply with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and other internationally-accepted standards.
This means modernizing the terminals, optimizing and enhancing the capacity of the airport to 62 million passengers a year, enhancing asset quality and passenger experience, improving the information and technology systems infrastructure and ensuring reliable operations over the period of the concession.
The concessionaire will be responsible for both landside and airside operations of the NAIA.
