Mactan-Cebu airport modernization given green light

Mactan Cebu International Airport FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) has given the go signal for the upgrade of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) with the formal signing of the concession agreement with the winning consortium GMR-Megawide Tuesday.

“The 25-year Concession Agreement was signed following the consortium’s fulfillment of all post-award requirements, including payment to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) of the P14.4-Billion premium it offered as its financial bid,” DOTC said in a statement.

With the agreement, operations and maintenance of the airport will be turned over by the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority to GMR-Megawide within the next six months while construction of a new passenger terminal building (PTB) should begin by January 2015 and completed in three years.

“This new terminal will be dedicated to international flights and will rise next to the existing PTB, to which it will be connected. The existing PTB will then be renovated for completion in January 2019, when it will begin to serve the airport’s domestic clientele exclusively,” DOTC said.

Almost 65,000 domestic and international flights carrying almost seven million passengers in 2013 account to airport traffic, according to records posted on the MCIAA website.

The contract for the airport upgrade project was signed after the expiration of the 15-day period to file any motion for reconsideration contesting the award and with no issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) against it, DOTC said.

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