Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., the infrastructure arm of the Aboitiz Group, said Tuesday it is optimistic its unsolicited offers to upgrade, operate and maintain two regional airports will start taking off toward the end of this year.
AIC chief operating officer Cosette Canilao said the company’s independent unsolicited proposals for the upgrade, operations, maintenance and expansion of Bohol-Panglao International Airport in Bohol province and Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental were on the right track.
“We were granted original proponent status by the Department of Transportation for the Bohol-Panglao on Sept. 3, 2018. We are hopeful that the government will allow us to operate these two regional gateways this year,” she said.
AIC made some clarifications with the Transportation Department on Dec. 12 to address queries on its original unsolicited proposal for the Laguindingan Airport which was submitted on Aug. 10, 2018.
“It is not a revised offer but a response to DOTr’s requests [for additional info],” Canilao said.
She said AIC had identified an experienced international airport operator to work on the P42.7-billion project.
The company tapped design and engineering firm Arup as consultant for the technical studies and masterplan of the Laguindingan proposal.
Apart from the regional airports, AIC is also a member of the Naia Consortium which was granted OPS by the Manila International Airport Authority on Sept. 10, 2018 to rehabilitate, operate and expand the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
“We are hopeful that the government will grant the consortium the notice to proceed this 2019 so that we can commence the expansion of Naia to accommodate 65 million passengers per year,” Naia Consortium spokesperson Jimbo Reverente said.
The Aboitiz Group said that to support the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ program and as part of its commitment to advance the lives of Filipinos via infrastructure development, it refocused its strategy to the infrastructure priorities of the country – water and transport projects.
