MANILA -The Marcos administration formally launched its first major privatization project—the P170.6-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) rehabilitation, operations and maintenance program—with the bid deadline set for Dec. 27 this year.
The Department of Transportation and Manila International Airport Authority published the instructions to bidders on Wednesday, kicking off the bidding process that aims to find a suitable private sector partner to upgrade and expand capacity at the country’s busiest airport.
Interested parties can access the concession agreement and other documents after paying a participation fee of P2.75 million. A pre-bid conference has been set for Sept. 22 this year.
“The project is expected to improve overall passenger experience and increase the current annual passenger capacity of Naia to at least 62 million from the current 32 million,” according to the DOTr.
According to the instructions to bidders, the Naia concession period will run for 15 years and can be extended by another 10 years, subject to certain conditions.
On top of the bid amount, bidders will make an upfront payment of P30 billion to MIAA and pay an annual fixed payment of P2 billion, the document showed.
Limits, qualifications
Bidders, whether individually or as a consortium, must have a net worth of at least P25 billion, must have experience in operating an international airport with at least 25 million passengers a year and must have personnel with deep experience running airports.
The document also placed limits on companies or entities that own or have “significant interest” in airports located within the greater capital region. These were the Clark International Airport (Pampanga), New Manila International Airport (Bulacan), and Sangley Point International Airport (Cavite).
It said such companies cannot own more than 20 percent interest in the Naia consortium.
Clark International Airport is being operated by JG Summit Holdings and Filinvest Development Corp., New Manila International Airport is being built by San Miguel Corp. while the Sangley Point Airport concession is led by Virata and Yuchengco Groups.
Moreover, companies with interests in airlines cannot own more than 33 percent of the Naia consortium.
Past attempts
Efforts to privatize Naia have emerged and failed during various administrations. More recently, the Manila International Airport Consortium, led by the country’s top tycoons, saw its own proposal to privatize and upgrade Naia set aside last July in favor of the current bid terms.
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The consortium is composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., the Ayala Group’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Lucio Tan’s Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global-Infracorp Development Inc., Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corp., Gokongwei-led JG Summit Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and Global Infrastructure Partners.
It was unclear whether the consortium will participate in the newly-launched privatization plan.
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