SMC, MIAC keen on Naia rehab deal

MANILA  -San Miguel Corp. (SMC), GMR Group and Manila International Airport Consortium (MIAC) lead the initial list of potential bidders for the P170.6-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) rehabilitation project, which is seen to have a significant payoff amid the continuing recovery of the aviation sector.

In a Viber message, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said five parties had bought the bid documents for the public-private partnership project.

SMC is currently developing the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan. The airport project has a design capacity of up to 100 million passengers annually, which is seen decongesting Naia, the country’s main gateway.

GMR, an Indian infrastructure developer, was part of the GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. that built the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

MIAC, meanwhile, previously lodged a P267-billion unsolicited Naia rehabilitation proposal, which includes shortening of passenger processing time by introducing modern technology like automated boarding gates and self check-in and bag-drop upgrades.

READ: Gov’t chooses open bidding for Naia rehab, snubs MIAC offer

The consortium is composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Alliance Global – Infracorp Development Inc., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and Global Infrastructure Partners.

“We are currently assessing these to determine the consortium’s next steps,” MIAC said in a statement on Thursday. Other entities who bought bid documents were Spark 888 Management Inc. and Asian Airport Consortium.

Further details about these parties are yet to be disclosed.

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According to the invitation to bid, interested parties can access the concession agreement and other documents upon payment of P2.75-million participation fee.

A prebid conference is set on Sept. 22 while bids have to be submitted by Dec. 27.

In August, the DOTr officially opened the bidding process for the Naia upgrade project.

The agency previously said they were targeting to award the contract by the first quarter of next year.

The chosen private sector partner will get a 15-year concession agreement that can be extended by another 10 years. It will make an upfront payment of P30 billion to Manila International Airport Authority and pay an annual fixed payment of P2 billion.

The project includes rehabilitation of passenger terminals and airside facilities such as runway, aircraft parking area and airfield lighting; provision of facilities enabling intermodal transfer at the airport; and connection from Naia Terminal 3 to Metro Manila Subway, which is under development.