Passengers disembark from their vehicles in front of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal 1 in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines, Oct. 6, 2023. — REUTERS

ONLY FOUR GROUPS have submitted bids for the P170.6-billion public-private partnership (PPP) project to upgrade the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said on Wednesday.   

The DoTr identified the four bidders as the Manila International Airport Consortium (MIAC), Asia Airport Consortium, GMR Airports Consortium, and SMC SAP and Company Consortium.    

“This is a very important project of the government. This airport is very congested, and we are expecting that when we turn this airport to the private sector we can increase the capacity per annum,” Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said during the submission and opening of technical documents for the NAIA PPP project that was held online on Wednesday.

Eight groups had earlier purchased bid documents, but only four decided to submit their bids on Wednesday.

The MIAC consortium is composed of the companies owned by the country’s tycoons, namely Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. (AIC); Ayala-led AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp.; Andrew L. Tan’s Alliance Global InfraCorp Development, Inc.; Lucio Tan’s Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp.; Gotianuns’ Filinvest Development Corp.; Gokongwei-led JG Summit Infrastructure Holdings Corp.; and GIP EM MIAC Pte., Ltd.

To recall, MIAC had previously submitted a P267-billion unsolicited proposal to operate and modernize the NAIA, but this was rejected by the government.

The GMR Airports Consortium is composed of GMR Airports International B.V.; Virata-led Cavitex Holdings, Inc.; and Yuchengco-led House of Investments, Inc. GMR Airports had partnered with Megawide Construction Corp. to operate the Mactan Cebu International Airport, but has since sold its stake to AIC.

The SMC SAP and Company Consortium is composed of San Miguel Holdings Corp.; RMM Asian Logistics, Inc.; RLW Aviation Development, Inc.; and Incheon International Airport Corp. The San Miguel group is currently building the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan. 

The Asian Airport Consortium is comprised of Lucio Co’s Cosco Capital, Inc.; Asian Infrastructure and Management Corp.; Philippine Skylanders International, Inc.; and  PT Angkasa Pura II.

Mr. Bautista said the DoTr will conduct a technical review of the bid submissions after 10 days which will be followed by a financial review.

He said the DoTr hopes to announce the winning bidder by the first quarter of next year.

The NAIA contract will initially cover 15 years, but can be extended by another 10 years. This will be under a rehabilitate-operate-expand-transfer arrangement, as provided for under the Build-Operate-and-Transfer law.

The project aims to increase the current annual passenger capacity of the NAIA to at least 62 million from the current 35 million.

“This would help further increase the air passenger and cargo capacity of NAIA that would help further boost local and foreign tourism in the country as a low hanging fruit that could be a major pillar for economic growth and development,” Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said in a Viber message. — AEOJ

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