The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Monday anticipates publishing the invitation to bid for the rehabilitation and expansion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) by next week.
“We’re in the process of finalizing the terms of reference and hopefully by next week we will be able to publish the TOR and invite prospective bidders,” Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista said at the Philippine economic briefing in Laoag.
The DOTr and the Manila International Airport Authority will serve as co-grantors of the project, which has a duration of 15 years, with option for a 10-year extension.
Bautista expects to award the P170 billion contract for the NAIA rehabilitation by the end of the year.
The NAIA privatization project seeks to address longstanding issues at NAIA such as the inadequate capacity of its passenger terminal buildings and restricted aircraft movement.
It also aims to increase the annual airport capacity from 35 million to at least 62 million and raise air traffic movement from 40 to 48 per hour.
The project is also expected to improve the overall passenger experience and service quality to prevent long queues, lengthy waiting times and other passenger inconvenience.
The rehabilitation project also aims to broaden NAIA’s role as key economic and tourism driver for Metro Manila and the Philippines, deliver capital infrastructure investment to improve the airport’s efficiency and increase its capacity to meet the growing passenger demand from the Philippines and the Asia Pacific region.
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. It is now known as the Solicited NAIA PPP Project.
