Aboitiz bags Laguindingan airport deal

READY FOR TAKEOFF Artist’s impression of future improvements in Laguindingan Airport. —Photo from Aboitiz InfraCapital

The Aboitiz Group is set to take over the operations and maintenance of the Laguindingan International Airport in Misamis Oriental next year, ramping up its infrastructure portfolio that also includes data centers and telecommunication towers.

This after the Department of Transportation (DOTr) issued last week the notice of award in favor of the unsolicited proposal of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., five years after the company was granted the original proponent status (OPS) in 2019.

AIC president and CEO Cosette Canilao told the Inquirer on Tuesday that the P12.75-billion contract to upgrade the Mindanao airport will be signed this month.

The airport operations and maintenance will be turned over to the group six months later, she added.

The Laguindingan airport upgrade project seeks to improve connectivity to northern Mindanao, which includes Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Lanao del Norte, Bukidnon and Camiguin.

The company successfully completed the Swiss challenge with no other competitors.

A Swiss challenge is being conducted to invite other proposals that can rival the offer by the holder of OPS, which is issued after the implementing agency accepted the proposed project.
The OPS is then allowed to match counter offers during the process; if no better offer was filed, the OPS will emerge as the winner.

The deliverables include initial terminal expansion and refurbishment of the existing terminal and enhancement or development of airside facilities to scale flight operations.

Ahead of the takeover, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said on Tuesday that a new passenger terminal building was built at the Laguindingan airport. This increases passenger capacity from 500 to 860 at any given time.

The P32.3 million project started construction in February. “We have expanded the facility with sustainability in mind. The construction used reusable steel, and the structure can be relocated if needed,” CAAP Director General Manuel Tamayo said in a statement.

The Aboitiz Group has been building its airport portfolio with Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) as the anchor asset.
In 2022, the company inked a P25-billion share subscription and transfer agreement with Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR Airports International BV to have full control of MCIA.

Along with this, the conglomerate is making its foray into data centers, targeting to build a hub housing critical servers this year.

The initial data center is set to rise near the National Capital Region. A secondary facility is eyed to be situated in the Greater Manila Area.

Aboitiz, through its unit Unity Digital Infrastructure Corp., also bought telecom tower assets of PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom. These transactions made Unity the operator of the towers, allowing them to provide telecommunication services to any player.