Consortium starts work on new Mactan terminal

The winner of the Mactan Cebu International Airport project, involving the expansion and operations of the country’s second-busiest air gateway, started work on the new terminal Monday with the aim of completing the “world-class” facility by 2018.

The public private partnership (PPP) project, won by Filipino company Megawide Construction Corp. and India’s GMR Infrastructure in 2014, aims to almost triple the airport’s capacity from 4.5 million to 12.5 million passengers once it is completed.

It remains among the most coveted of PPP deals awarded under the Aquino administration as it lured several of the country’s biggest conglomerates and their international partners.

The PPP project covers the construction of a new world-class international passenger terminal building (PTB) as well as the renovation of the existing PTB and its conversion into an exclusively domestic facility. The renovation of the existing terminal will be done by 2019.

The Department of Transportation and Communications said Mactan-Cebu would become the world’s first “resort airport” once work has been completed.

“It will not only cement our place on the global map as a major tourist and business destination. It will boost the local economy and is projected to generate jobs especially in Cebu,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said in a statement.

The Megawide-GMR consortium won the auction for the 25-year PPP contract after offering to the government a premium bid of P14.4 billion. Operations and maintenance (O&M) of the airport was turned over to the consortium last November.

Immediately upon assuming O&M responsibility, the Megawide-GMR consortium began implementing “soft improvements” to the existing terminal, or those which did not require major civil works, to enhance passenger experience at the gateway.

For instance, a centralized security check (CSC) system was opened earlier this month to speed up the processing time for departing guests. It features four X-ray machines that can be used interchangeably, which then doubles the capacity of the final check-in counters.

To further reduce passenger queues, the consortium also opened additional immigration counters and self-service kiosks wherein passengers can pre-check-in.

Other “soft improvements” included the installation of LED bulbs; the optimized use of floor space, which included transferring certain offices in exchange for more check-in counters and waiting areas; redesigning seating patterns to increase usage by passengers, and offering self-service check-in kiosks for faster processing.

“It is clear to us that [Megawide-GMR] brings international expertise into running an airport. Immediately it has already made substantial improvements without making structural works yet,” Abaya said.