Ayala, Aboitiz form venture with American airport giant

THE AYALA and Aboitiz groups have teamed up with US-based global airport operator ADC & HAS Airports Corp. to boost their bid for the P10-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport terminal rehabilitation project under the government’s Public Private Partnership (PPP) program.

Ayala Corp. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures signed a memorandum of understanding with ADC to form a consortium that would participate in the planned public bidding of the Mactan airport modernization program.

ADC is a global airport operator with a track record of successful investment, development and operation of airports around the world. It operates airports serving the capital cities of Quito, Ecuador, and San Jose, Costa Rica, with an annual capacity of more than five million passengers and 3.6 million passengers, respectively. It also operates airports in the growing tourist destinations of Liberia, Costa Rica, and the Chungcheong northern province in South Korea.

Based in Houston, ADC combines the operational strength and technical resources of the Houston Airport System (HAS) and the airport privatization and development experience of Airport Development Corp. (ADC). HAS operates three airports in the United States that handle a combined capacity of nearly 50 million passengers annually, making it North America’s fourth-largest airport operator.

“By partnering with ADC&HAS, we are bringing on board one of the most dynamic developers and operators of airports in the world today,” said AEV president Erramon Aboitiz.

“ADC&HAS has been at the forefront of airport and commercial development for over 40 years, spearheading landmark airport privatizations in Canada, Hungary, Ecuador, Costa Rica and just recently in Korea,” Aboitiz said. “Coupled with the technical resources from HAS, the world’s sixth-largest airport system, we’re confident that our alliance with ADC&HAS will allow us to develop a world-class airport facility in Mactan that all Filipinos will be proud of.”

AEV teamed up with Ayala on the project through newly acquired property unit Aboitiz Land.

Ayala president Fernando Zobel de Ayala, for his part, said: “We are very excited to partner with ADC&HAS in the bid for the Mactan Airport. Their experience and success in building and operating world-class airports in multiple emerging markets under a PPP concession framework make them a highly suitable partner for a project like this. We believe their expertise in airport operations together with the combined strengths of the Aboitiz and Ayala groups can offer the opportunity to significantly increase the standards of airport operations in the country. We believe that Mactan can become an even more important international gateway to southern Philippines.”