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The Department of Transportation is set to award one airport public-private partnership project this year and three next year
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The opening of comparative proposals for the Bohol-Panglao International Airport PPP project is scheduled on November 11
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If no submissions are received, the project will be awarded to original proponent Aboitiz InfraCapital
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Also expected to be awarded next year are PPP projects for Iloilo, Kalibo, and Puerto Princesa airports
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The Villar group seeking to operate Puerto Princesa and Iloilo airports
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is set to award one airport public-private partnership (PPP) project this year and three next year, according to Undersecretary for Aviation and Airports Roberto Lim.
The opening of comparative proposals for the Bohol-Panglao International Airport project is scheduled on November 11, Lim said in a presentation during the 2024 Aviation Summit hosted by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines and Asian Business Aviation Association on October 3.
Last July, DOTr and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines invited firms to submit proposals to finance, design, construct, operate, and maintain the airport project under a 30-year concession period.
DOTr may award the project within the year to the original proponent Aboitiz InfraCapital, Inc. (AII) if no challenger steps up, Lim said in a media interview at the sidelines of the summit.
Once awarded, turnover of the airport will be in the latter part of the first quarter or second quarter of next year, Lim said.
AII was just was awarded the P12.748-billion contract for the upgrade, expansion, operation and maintenance of Laguindingan International Airport. Signing of the concession agreement is scheduled this October.
READ: Aboitiz wins P12.75-B Laguindingan airport contract
Aside from Bohol-Panglao International Airport, three other airport PPP projects are expected to be awarded next year: Iloilo, Kalibo, and Puerto Princesa.
Lim said they have negotiations with the proponent of Iloilo International Airport and will soon start the same for Kalibo Airport.
For Puerto Princesa Airport, the unsolicited proposal is under initial evaluation by DOTr, according to the Public Private Partnership Center website.
Iloilo, Puerto Princesa airports
In 2019, the Villar Group’s Prime Asset Ventures, Inc. submitted an unsolicited proposal for the improvement and expansion of Iloilo International Airport; AII did the same in 2023.
Prime Asset Ventures also put forward an unsolicited proposal for the P10.24-billion Puerto Princesa International Airport project.
Another unsolicited proposal for the P3.62-billion upgrade, maintenance, and operation of Kalibo International Airport in Aklan was received from Mega7 Construction Corp.
Davao airport
Next year DOTr is set to launch competitive tender for the Davao International Airport PPP project but under the solicited route. This follows rejection in May of Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp’s unsolicited proposal, which Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said “lacked information.”
In his keynote speech during the recent 2024 Aviation Summit, Bautista said DOTr is working with the World Bank-International Finance Corp. and Asian Development Bank for more PPP projects next year, including for the Busuanga, Bacolod, Bicol and General Santos airports – all under the solicited scheme.
Moreover, DOTr has allocated P3.2 billion in 2025 for the development of 17 airports nationwide. Of these, seven are in Luzon, four are in Visayas, and six in Mindanao.
Luzon airports are Tuguegarao, Bacon, Loakan, Daet, Cauayan, Vigas, and Candon. In the Visayas, the airports are in Catbalogan, Dumaguete, Kabankalan, and Calbayog. For Mindanao, the airports are in Zamboanga, Mati, M‘lang, Jolo, Siargao, and Tandag.
Other greenfield airport projects to be pursued include Busuanga, Candon, Masbate, Naga, Catbalogan, Siargao, Bukidnon, and Zamboanga.
DOTr will likewise continue to develop airports in islands and communities, such as in Itbayat, Maasin, Hilongos, and Siquijor, to improve air transport connectivity. – Roumina Pablo
