BCDA to prioritize airport projects

MANILA, Philippines—The state-run Bases Conversion Development Authority plans to prioritize the upgrading of the budget terminal at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, Pampanga, by taking in a private partner within this year.

In an interview with Inquirer, newly appointed BCDA president and chief executive Arnel Casanova also said the upgrading of a dormant airport in San Fernando, La Union, was now nearly finished. He said this airport, which is under BCDA’s subsidiary Poro Point Management Corp., could open up a major gateway to Northern Luzon soon.

Casanova also assured that the forthcoming privatization of the terminal upgrading in Clark or any other similar project to be undertaken by BCDA would be done in a “fair and square” and “transparent” manner.

“Sometimes, there are accusations that the TOR [term of reference] is custom fit to certain players. It shouldn’t be that way. The bidding must attract more players who are competent and financially capable,” he said.

The upgrading of DMIA, he said, would be done in phases, the first of which would be to upgrade the existing terminal for budget carriers given that this airport was being groomed as a regional hub for low-cost airlines. “If you upgrade the terminal, more carriers will come in,” he said. The bidding process for the upgrading of the budget terminal could be done within the year, he said.

But converting DMIA into the country’s main international gateway, Casanova said, would require the building of an entirely new airport in Clark. BCDA is involved in this undertaking being the parent firm of Clark International Airport Corp. and Clark Development Corp.

Several big groups like San Miguel Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. have expressed interest in developing DMIA into the country’s international gateway in the future, given the geographical limitations of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

In the future, Casanova said the San Fernando airport terminal could also be one of the projects that could be offered under the public-private partnership framework in infrastructure-building.

The BCDA has so far invested P500 million to extend the airport’s runway to accommodate bigger aircraft with the size of at least the Boeing 737, a short- to medium-range, narrow-body jet.