CLARK TOWER AND LIGHTING PROJECTS AWARDED. Members of the Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) of the Clark International Airport Corp. headed by CIAC Vice President Irish Calaguas (4th from left) announce the winning bidders for the construction of the country’s airport control tower and the upgrading of the airfield’s ground lighting system at the emerging Clark airport complex after the tender process from July to December 2020. (CIAC-CCO)
CLARK FREEPORT —The construction of the airport control tower and the upgrading of the airfield’s ground lighting system at the emerging Clark airport complex have finally started, an executive of the government-run Clark International Airport Corp. announced on Tuesday.
CIAC president Aaron Aquino said the air control tower project and the upgrading of the airfield ground lighting system are expected to improve Clark’s air traffic control system as the new passenger terminal building of the Clark International Airport is expected to be fully operational within the year.
Both projects commenced last month following a tender process from July to December last year.
“The airfield tower and lighting projects are in conformity with the Master Plan of the Clark airport and are expected to be completed by December 2021,” Aquino added.
The new air control tower project, worth P290,360,830.70, was awarded to MSV Construction, while the winning bidder for the lighting system to cost P491,888,888.77, was Evercon Builders and Equipment Corp.
“The airport control tower will be 18-storeys high or about 54 meters, the tallest in the country, much higher than the existing one built by the Americans at this former Clark air force base,”Aquino said.
The control tower at Mactan-Cebu International Airport is at 30 meters high while the tower at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is measured at about 40 meters.
The projects are two major components of CIAC’s airport infrastructure expansion program whose funding was approved via the General Appropriations Act of 2020 under the account of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, the CIAC’s parent company.
While the Clark airport is operated and maintained by a private company called LIPAD Corp., CIAC has refocused its operations to further develop the 2,367-hectare Clark Civil Aviation Complex to become a globally-competitive services and logistics hub.
