AirAsia seeks to operate, maintain Clark airport

Malaysia’s AirAsia Group joined the ranks of those keen on the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the Clark International Airport, among the gateways being pitched as an alternative to the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) in Manila.

AirAsia joined eight other groups, which included local conglomerates and international airport operators, as it bought bid documents for the 25-year Clark Airport O&M project, a Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) official said.

The bid submission date was reset to Sept. 4, 2018 from the original July 20 deadline after would-be participants sought an extension, the official said.

AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes earlier expressed his interest to make Clark Airport, located in Pampanga province, a major hub for Philippines Air Asia. The airline restarted operations in Clark last year after pulling out in 2013 when it made the strategic decision to focus on Manila.

Groups that earlier bought bid documents included San Miguel Corp., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Megawide Construction Corp., and Filinvest Development Corp. Other local companies were businessman Manuel Villar Jr.’s Prime Asset Venture and Central Luzon Infrastructure Consultancy Inc. Consortium.

Foreign groups were India’s GVK Airport Developers Ltd. and France’s Groupe ADP, previously known as Aéroports de Paris, which helped design the long-term master plan for Clark Airport.

The Clark Airport expansion and O&M deal is the Duterte administration’s first hybrid public-private partnership project. The scheme mainly involved separating the expansion of the airport and the O&M into two distinct contracts.

The government last December awarded a contract to Megawide and India’s GMR Infrastructure for the construction of a new passenger terminal in Clark Airport. The project, to be financed by the BCDA, will increase the airport’s current capacity of four million passengers annually to 12 million passengers by 2020.

The winner of the O&M contract will also reimburse the BCDA for its investment in the construction component. This is equivalent to P10 billion, to be paid on an installment basis, the project’s information memorandum released on April 27 showed.

The main bid parameter for the O&M contract is the highest percentage share in quarterly gross revenues that the concessionaire will pay the BCDA.