The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is set to rebid the rehabilitation and expansion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) next year.
“We have worked with the Asian Development Bank for the preparation of the terms of reference for the privatization of the Manila international airport,” Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said.
Bautista hopes the terms of reference for the bidding will be available by the first quarter of 2023 so they can entertain proposals from interested parties.
The redevelopment of NAIA is expected to alleviate the worsening air traffic congestion at the country’s main international gateway and beef up capacity by reconfiguring and renovating facilities to meet the growing passenger demand.
The previous administration tapped the super consortium, composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital, Ayalas’ AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global Group, Lucio Tan’s Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corp., and the Gokongwei family’s JG Summit Holdings – to undertake the rehabilitation of NAIA at a cost of P102 billion. The group, however, backed out from the project due to unresolved issues with the government.
It then accepted Megawide-GMR’s proposal but the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) revoked the original proponent status granted to the consortium in December 2020.