Megawide group tops Mactan airport bid

MANILA, Philippines - The tandem of Filipino-owned Megawide Construction Corp. and Bangalore-based airport operator GMR has topped the bidding for the Mactan Cebu International airport terminal project, edging out  several conglomerates led by San Miguel Corp., Ayala Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc., SM Group, and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. 

Jose Perpetuo Lotilla, undersecretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), said the GMR Infrastructure of India – Megawide consortium submitted the highest bid of P14.404 billion followed by the Filinvest – CAI Consortium with P13.999 billion, and Premier Airport Group of SM Group of retail magnate Henry Sy with P12.5 billion.

Lotilla said MPIC-JGS Airport consortium led by infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan and JG Summit Holdings of taipan John Gokongwei submitted a bid of P11.23 billion while AAA Airport Partners led by the conglomerate Ayala Group and Cebu-based Aboitiz Land forwarded a bid of P11.088 billion.

He added that San Miguel Corp.-Incheon Airport consortium submitted a bid of P9.05 billion while the Lopez groups’ First Philippine Airports submitted the lowest bid of P4.7 billion.

The roster of foreign airport operators includes ADC & HAS of Houston Airport, Malaysia Airports Berhad, Singapore’s Changi Airport, South Korea’s Incheon Airport, France’s Aeroports de Lyon, Switzerland’s Zurich Airport, India’s Delhi Airports.

He told reporters that the agency’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) would review the financial bids submitted by the bidders over the next two weeks.

According to him, the agency intends to issue a Notice of Award on Jan. 6 and sign a contract with the winning group on Feb. 6.

PPP Center executive director Cosette Canilao told reporters that the bids submitted by the bidders exceeded the expectations of the government that was prepared to give a subsidy.

“Those are really good bids, all premium bids and exceeded our expectations. The government was prepared to give a subsidy. We got all the good operators from all over the world to participate, it’s good for the government,” Canilao said.

Last Nov. 21, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board chaired by President Aquino approved seven major infrastructure projects worth P184.2 billion including changes to the concession agreements to make the projects more attractive to interested bidders.

Several key improvements to the terms of the Mactan – Cebu international airport expansion project were approved by the NEDA Board making it more attractive to bidders and encouraging more competitive proposals.

These include extending the concession period from 20 years to 25 years, including the operation of the apron or aircraft parking area in the project scope, and imposing a 25-year ban on the operation of competing airports within the province of Cebu apart from the Bantayan and Camotes Islands.