The Department of Transportation said Monday it is on track to complete the new passenger terminal building of Clark International Airport by 2020.
The agency said the new passenger terminal building was so far 74.55-percent complete.
The expansion project is a part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s overall regional development plan for North and Central Luzon, which complements big-ticket projects such as the New Clark City, the Subic-Clark Cargo Railway and the North-South Commuter Railway that will connect Clark to Manila and to Calamba, Laguna.
Once operational by mid-2020, the airport is seen to ease congestion at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, boost the operational capacity of the airport and triple the current passenger capacity of 4.2 million passengers annually to 12.2 million.
Megawide-GMR won the bidding for the construction of a new passenger terminal in Clark Airport when it submitted the lowest financial proposal of P9.36 billion on Dec. 14, 2018.
Clark International Airport is the second main gateway in Luzon. The new 100,000-square-meter terminal will double its capacity to eight million passengers a year, easing the strain on Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Parañaque City and boosting development of Central Luzon.
Clark International Airport has an annual capacity of four million passengers. Airlines operating in Clark include Qatar Airways, Cebu Pacific, Tigerair, Jin Air, Asiana Airlines, Dragon Air, AirAsia Berhad, Philippine Airlines and Emirates Airlines.
These airlines mount flights to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Macau, Pudong, Incheon, Doha, Dubai, Davao, Cebu and Kalibo.
The North Luzon Airport Consortium earlier signed a 25-year concession agreement with state-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority for the operations and maintenance of Clark International Airport.
NLAC consists of Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc., Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions Inc. and Changi Airports Philippines Pte. Ltd.
The consortium plans to establish a new reputation for Philippine international gateway airports to ensure ease and seamless travel in the Philippine airports with the consortium’s technical partner, Changi Airport Philippines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Changi Airports International.