Gov’t to privatize Poro Point airport

The government plans to privatize the San Fernando airport in La Union and transform it into a world-class international gateway. PHOTO FROM SKYSCRAPERCITY.COM/DANICA JEAN CALUYA

The government has announced plans to develop the San Fernando Airport in La Union’s Poro Point special economic zone into a world-class international gateway for millions of Filipinos living in Northern Luzon.

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) on Monday said it was finalizing the terms of reference to be used for the privatization of the San Fernando Airport.

“We want to turn it into something similar to the Changi Airport in Singapore, which is a combination of a commercial shopping mall and an airport,” said BCDA Chairman Felicito Payumo, a former congressman from Bataan.

Payumo also served as chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority under former President Estrada, and later under former president Arroyo. He is currently a member of President Aquino’s ruling Liberal Party.

In an interview, Payumo said the San Fernando Airport would serve the demand from Northern Luzon. In particular, he said the facility would provide both international and domestic passengers easy access to Baguio City, the country’s so-called “Summer Capital.”

“There is currently no world-class airport in that area,” Payumo said, noting that Baguio’s Loakan Airport was no longer capable of taking big commercial flights. The Laoag International Airport in Ilocos Norte, meanwhile, is at least four more hours away.

Meanwhile, the Clark International Airport in Pampanga, Payumo said, was too far to be convenient for North Luzon residents.

“From San Fernando, Baguio City would just be 45 minutes away,” BCDA president Arnel Casanova said in a separate interview.

Casanova said the BCDA would also prioritize the installation of night navigation equipment at the San Fernando Airport to allow planes to take off and land at any time of the day.

He said the project, to be handled by BCDA subsidiary Poro Point Management Co., would be bid out this year to the private sector under the Aquino administration’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme.

The BCDA declined to give further details. Casanova said the terms for the contract would be announced once the project was ready to be bid out.