CLARK FREEPORT – The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), in partnership with the Department of Transportation, has started the bidding process for the operation and maintenance of the Clark International Airport which the BCDA has dubbed “the next major gateway to the country and the region.”
This, after the BCDA published invitations to bid the other day, after the National Economic and Development Authority Board approved the P5.61-billion project officially dubbed as “Clark International Airport Expansion Project and Operations and Maintenance PPP Concession.”
The airport is presently being operated and managed by the stateowned Clark International Airport Corp., a subsidiary of the BCDA.
The bidding will finally privatize the airport which has two runways each 3.2 kilometers long.
BCDA spokesperson Lani Macasaet said “a primer and information memorandum containing the general information about the project will be made available to interested parties on the BCDA website” and that the bidding documents will be available on May 7.
BCDA president and chief executive officer Vivencio Dizon said the operations and maintenance contract is expected to be awarded by August.
“Upon award, the concessionaire will take over the management and operations of the existing passenger terminal, and the new terminal building upon its completion and successful commissioning,” Dizon said.
The new terminal building is the fi st of the Duterte administration’s hybrid infrastructure projects, Dizon also said.
He announced that “the new terminal is going to open in the first half of 2020.” “It’s on track. We have no indications of delay.
It’s moving full speed ahead and I think we can even gain more momentum as we move towards the next phases of construction,” said Dizon.
The Clark airport is expected to eventually decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, with its capacity for eight million passengers per year.
