Clark Airport operations and maintenance bidding set in May

MANILA, Philippines — The government is planning to start next month the bidding for the operations and maintenance of the Clark International Airport, the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) said.

“The bidding for the operations and maintenance will be launched next month by mother company BCDA,” Darwin Cunanan, assistant vice president for strategic development and corporate management group at CIAC told reporters.

He said the terms of reference would state whether the operations and maintenance would only cover the new passenger terminal or even other terminals to be developed later on.

“Clark will have multiple terminal development. The winning bidder might be limited to new terminal… It all depends on the BCDA,” he said.

The expansion of the Clark International Airport is the first hybrid project under the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build program.

In December last year, the government awarded the contract for the construction of the new terminal building of the Clark International Airport to the consortium of Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR Infrastructure Ltd. of India after the group submitted the lowest financial offer during the bidding.

Under the project, the Clark International Airport would accommodate more passengers through the new 101,977-square meter terminal.

With a new terminal, Clark Airport’s capacity would rise to 12 million passengers per annum by 2020 from four million at present.

The project is also expected to help ease congestion at the country’s main international gateway, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) which is operating beyond its capacity.

Last year, NAIA handled 42 million passengers, way above its 31 million annual capacity.

Apart from serving as an alternative airport, the development of the Clark Airport is also expected to create job opportunities and promote development in Central Luzon.