Aboitiz advances in bid for Laguindingan Airport

The infrastructure arm of conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. bagged a key endorsement from the government to proceed with an unsolicited offer to expand and operate the Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental.

Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. (AIC) announced on Monday it was granted an original proponent status (OPS) by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines on Feb. 26 for its P42.7-billion offer.

The proposal includes operations and capacity expansion for Laguindingan Airport, which serves as a gateway to Northern Mindanao. In 2018, passenger volume at the facility hit two million against its design capacity of 1.6 million passengers annually. The airport began operations in 2013.

With an OPS, Aboitiz has a key advantage should the project proceed to the mandated Swiss challenge process. The next step is for the firm to win the approval of the National Economic and Development Authority, whose board is chaired by President Duterte.

“The granting of the OPS for the Laguindingan Airport opens up an opportunity for us to play a major role in improving our country’s vital gateways,” AIC chief operating office Cosette Canilao said in a statement.

This is AIC’s second time to win an OPS for an airport project. In September last year, it received the same endorsement for its P27-billion offer to develop and operate the Bohol-Panglao International Airport.

Airport development has long been on the radar of the Aboitiz Group, which has businesses in power generation, banking, property development and food.

It was also among the groups that planned to bid for regional airports under the Aquino administration-era Public-Private Partnership program. That tender was eventually scrapped by the present government, which favored other bidding methods.

Apart from regional airports, AIC is also a member of the Naia Consortium which was granted original proponent status to develop and operate Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).