The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Friday said the bidding exercise to upgrade and privatize the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) should not be affected by the baggage theft incident at Terminal 1 of the country’s main international gateway.
At the pre-bid conference, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said six business groups have bought bid documents for the P170.6-billion deal to rehabilitate, optimize and maintain NAIA as of Friday, 22 September.
Bautista identified the bidders as San Miguel Corp., India’s GMR Group, Manila International Airport Consortium, Spark 888 Management Inc, Asian Airport Consortium and Cengiz Insaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.
“We’re very happy with the turnout. We are hoping there will be some more interested parties who will join the bidding process,” he said.
On whether the theft incident at the airport will affect the NAIA bidding, Bautista said, “It’s very sad and it’s disappointing considering that we are in this process of attracting investors although I hope that this is an isolated case,” Bautista said.
Bautista said the rehabilitation and operation of NAIA through a PPP arrangement represents a landmark opportunity for the country.
“It promises economic growth, improved infrastructure and a world-class travel experience. With the right private sector partner, we can unlock NAIA’s full potential, making it an example of progress and innovation,” he said.
“We are now at the bidding stage and we look forward to awarding this project soon,” Bautista added.
The bid submission is set for 27 December this year. The DOTr expects to award the contract the following January.
The DOTr and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) serve as co-grantors of the project and its 15-year concession and an option for a 10-year extension.
The NAIA project requires a capital investment to improve airport facilities in compliance 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 per annum, 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. It is required to undertake works to enhance the compliance, safety and security of the airport, optimize and boost airport capacity to cater to the increasing air traffic, in accordance with objective parameters to be provided in detail in the concession agreement.
