The infrastructure unit of conglomerate Ayala Corp. joined forces with three foreign airline operators to bid for the privatization and redevelopment of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
“We are happy the way our consortium came out. The people who are joining us are coming from a particular core competency and expertise that can add to the project. Hopefully it [will] help us win the bid,” AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. president and chief executive Jose Rene Almendras said.
“If we design something more efficient, if we can put the best technology into place that can hopefully reduce cost or increase capacity, [it] will help us win the bid,” said Almendras, who served as Cabinet secretary under the Aquino administration.
Almendras did not identify the three foreign airline companies.
AC infra’s portfolio includes toll road and rail projects. Aside from AC Infrastructure, other conglomerates that expressed interest in joining the Naia redevelopment project were Metro Pacific Investments Corp., San Miguel Corp and JG Summit Holdings Inc.
The Transportation Department said it expected the bid submission for the project to be in August next year.
The award and signing of the concession agreement is expected in September 2017.
Under the Naia contract, the government will award a 15-year to 20-year concession to the private sector to improve safety and security, maximize capacity through “refreshed” infrastructure, improve passenger service standards in the existing gateway, operate and maintain Naia and its four terminals.
Naia already exceeded the 30 million passenger capacity as early as 2012. A Japan International Cooperation Agency study showed the number of passengers using Naia would reach 101.49 million by 2040.
Transportation undersecretary for aviation and airports Robert Lim said Jica was finalizing the location for a proposed new airport that would replace Naia in Parañaque City.
Jica was looking at Sangley Point in Cavite and Laguna de Bay as potential sites for the new international airport. He said the government had to decide the ideal location for the new airport by 2017.
The government wants to build a new international airport that is 25 to 30 minutes away from Naia, which is expected to hit overcapacity this year, when the airport would handle 37.78 million passengers.
