AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT International News Each Issue of Airport Development Focuses on a Different Region of the World, with Global News at the End of This Section
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Page 1 of 13 25 January 2021 No. 1137 DEV Published biweekly – available by annual subscription only – details & order online at: www.mombergerairport.info Publisher: Martin Lamprecht [email protected] – Founding Editor: Manfred Momberger News Editors: Paul Ellis [email protected] – Marnix (Max) Groot [email protected] Momberger Airport Information by Air Trans Source Inc. – international news & data – published since 1973 AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT International News Each issue of Airport Development focuses on a different region of the world, with global news at the end of this section. A list of past focus regions published in recent years can be downloaded from the Bonus section in the subscriber pages of our website. Focus Region: Asia Pacific Other Regions from page 10 PHILIPPINES The USD 2.27-billion project to rehabilitate Manilla’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) faces further delays, after the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) revoked the original proponent status (OPS) granted to Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR. Megawide said it would file a motion for reconsideration, maintaining that it has complied with all the requirements set by the government. Megawide-GMR was the consortium behind the Mactan-Cebu International Airport modernization, which has won multiple international awards. In September 2020, the two companies delivered the Clark International Airport complex to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) under budget and on time. Before the pandemic, NAIA was struggling with over 45 million passengers annually—above its existing design capacity of 31 million passengers per year. This led to frequent flight delays and cramped passenger waiting areas. The government granted Megawide-GMR. the OPS for the renovation of NAIA Terminal 1 in July 2020, after the consortium submitted an unsolicited USD 2.27 billion proposal for the modernization of the country’s primary international airport. Being granted the OPS means that Megawide-GMR could negotiate with the government as the private sector partner for the NAIA rehabilitation project. Prior to Megawide’-GMR’s proposal, a “super consortium” was given the OPS for the NAIA rehabilitation project. The consortium included Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., the Ayalas’ AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Andrew Tan-led Alliance Global Group Inc., Lucio Tan-led Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corp., Gokongwei-led JG Summit Holdings Inc., and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. However, this consortium withdrew from the project. Megawide has said they responded accordingly to the national government’s insistence on contract terms that were stricter than that of the previous proponent. “In response to that call, Megawide submitted an innovative proposal that sought not just to rehabilitate NAIA but transform it into a first-world, global airport complex,” it pointed out. Megawide’s offer also includes a passenger railway link to connect Naia’s terminals within the sprawling 650-hectare complex. This is different from NAIA Consortium’s offer to link the terminals through a dedicated bus system. #1137.1 The USD 15-billion New Manilla International Airport (NMIA) in Bulacan is set to open in 2025. This was announced by San Miguel Corp. president and COO Ramon Ang. In a statement, the SMC chief said work has started for the construction of the NMIA in Bulakan, Bulacan. With this, Ang set the opening date of the massive airport project for 2025. In December last year, SMC awarded Dutch dredging firm Boskalis a USD 1.73-billion contract to restore land at the project site in Bulakan town. In August 2019, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) formally awarded the contract to build and operate the Bulacan airport project to San Miguel Holdings Corp., the infrastructure unit of SMC. Both parties signed the concession deal for the New Manila International Airport on September 18, a month and four days after SMC received the notice of award for the contract. Copyright © 2021 - Momberger Airport Information - www.mombergerairport.info Page 2 of 13 25 January 2021 No. 1137 DEV The project involves the construction, operation, and maintenance of a 2,500-hectare airport in Bulakan. MIA is designed to accommodate up to 100 million passengers per year as SMC plans to equip the airport with four runways, eight taxiways, and three passenger terminals. Depending on the market forces, two additional runways may also be eyed to be established to handle up to 200 million, the conglomerate earlier said. It will be connected to the North Luzon Expressway through an 8.4-kilometer tollway to be constructed as part of the project. #1137.2 The new passenger terminal building of the Clark International Airport (CRK) has been completed and was set to start operations in January 2021, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has said. In a statement, the DOTr said the airport expansion project has been “completed by end- September, ahead of its original October target completion date.” “Once operational, it is projected that CRK’s current operational capacity will get a boost, and the airport’s passenger volume will be tripled from the current 4.2 million to 12.2 million annually,” the agency said. The expansion will also elevate Clark airport’s stature as “Asia’s Next Premier Gateway” and is expected to significantly help in decongesting the passenger traffic at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, it added. The project was undertaken by the Megawide GMR. Construction Joint Venture, Inc. (MGCJV), and was monitored by the DOTr and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA). #1137.3 The massive Sangley Point International Airport (SPIA) project is still being vetted by the government. The developer, MacroAsia Corp. must prove to the Cavite Provincial government that it still has the financial muscle to fund the first phase of the airport before it can proceed with the development together with its Chinese partner. The first phase of the SPIA project was awarded by the provincial government of Cavite in February 2020, to the team of MacroAsia and state-owned China Communications Construction Co. Ltd. (CCCC). MacroAsia has a 40 percent stake in the consortium, while CCCC holds the remaining 60 percent. In December 2019, the consortium submitted in the sole bid for the project, which will be implemented as a local government public-private partnership joint venture by the provincial government of Cavite. The ground-breaking for the first phase of the airport project was initially expected to take place in the second quarter of the year. The first phase of the project, which will cost USD 4 billion, includes the construction of the Sangley connector road and a bridge to connect the Kawit segment of the Manila-Cavite Expressway to the airport. Phase 1 also involves the construction of the airport’s first runway. The airport will have a capacity of 25 million passengers annually and is intended to help decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. It is expected to be fully operational by 2023, with partial operations to start a year earlier. The fourth runway will be opened after six years. The same consortium will work on the other two phases of the airport project, but there may be contract renegotiations, according to the Cavite government. The second phase, which will cost about USD 6 billion, involves the construction of two more runways, giving the airport an annual capacity of 75 million passengers. The last phase is the expansion to four runways, bringing capacity to 130 million passengers. #1137.4 The Mactan-Cebu Airport is bent on pursuing the construction of the parallel runway in anticipation of future growth. The Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) expects recovery of the air travel industry amid the plunge of passenger traffic in 2020 by plotting a long-term development plan. MCIAA general manager and chief executive officer Steve Dicdican said the second runway will be dedicated for take-offs while the existing one will be for landings. “We will continue with our projects. We’re slowly catching up to with the construction of the second runway. We hope to finish it before the end of this administration, probably early 2022,” Dicdican said, adding the need for continued capital spending to boost future growth despite the plummeting income currently. He believes tourism can bounce back once travel restrictions are eased and anxieties of travelers are gone. “We anticipate Copyright © 2021 - Momberger Airport Information - www.mombergerairport.info Page 3 of 13 25 January 2021 No. 1137 DEV future growth. We need to ensure we are sustainable,” Dicdican said. “We (the airport) will grow as the market grows. Our airport has a modular design so we can always expand. We are built for growth”. Although they are seeing passenger traffic plunging to three million in 2020, a level that was last seen more than 10 years ago amid the dismal air travel demand due to the coronavirus diseases (Covid-19) scare, he added the MCIAA is plotting a long-term goal as it slowly recovers from the impact of the crisis. Dicdican said it will take about two years for the airport to regain its pre-Covid passenger traffic. In 2019, the country’s second biggest air gateway recorded 12.6 million passenger traffic. #1137.5 A feasibility study for the proposed airport in Medellin town in northern Cebu is underway. The announcement was made by the Municipality of Medellin in the fall of 2020, after a meeting with representatives of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA). Medellin is a city located 90 kilometres north of Cebu City. Medellin city officials and their counterparts from MCIAA also conducted an ocular inspection of the site in Barangay Camputatan Sur where the proposed Medellin airport will be built. They said that at least 32 hectares of land will be needed for the project that will include a runway and other infrastructure that are needed to accommodate turboprop aircrafts.