The government of Philippines, through the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), has launched a tender process to development, operation and maintenance of six airports under a single PPP contract.

The private partner will undertake the operation and maintenance of the airports as well as provide additional facilities and other necessary improvements to enhance passenger safety, security, access, passenger and cargo movement efficiency, and operational efficiency under a defined concession period.

The projects will be developed on an operate, add, and transfer (OAT) basis. The concesion period will be 30 years. The six airport projects are the following:

• Puerto Princesa airport.

The project involves the construction of a new landside facility on the northwestern side of the existing runway, the upgrade of airside structures, and putting in new air navigational and traffic control equipment to improve the airport's commercial and operational efficiency.

The total project investment is estimated at P5.23 billion (US$129.1 million).

• Davao airport.

The project aims to decongest the airport which is currently operating beyond its capacity. It involves the upgrade of the passenger terminal building, the cargo terminal building and the expansion of other key facilities such as car parking, and administration building, among others.

Davao Airport, also known as the Francisco Bangoy (Davao) International Airport, is located in Davao City. It is in fact, the third busiest airport in the Philippines.

The total project investment is estimated at P40.57 billion (US$901.56 million).

• Bacolod airport.

The project involves the upgrade of the passenger terminal building, the cargo terminal building, the runway, a parallel taxiway and the expansion of other key facilities such as car parking, and administration building, among others. Bacolod Airport, also known as Bacolod-Silay Airport, commenced operations in 2008 and it replaced the Bacolod City domestic airport. The airport is located in Silay City, Negros Occidental (Western Visayas Region), and generally caters to traffic for the Negros Island.

The total project investment is estimated at P20.26 billion (US$450.22 million).

• Iloilo airport.

The project will decongest the Iloilo Airport, which is currently operating overcapacity. It involves the upgrade of the passenger terminal building, the cargo terminal building and the expansion of other key facilities such as car parking, and administration building, among others.

The New Iloilo Airport, is located in Cabatuan, Province of Iloilo (Western Visayas Region). It is among the top 5 airports in the Philippines in terms of traffic.

The total project investment is estimated at P30.40 billion (US$675.56 million).

• New Bohol (Panglao) airport.

The project involves the operation and maintenance of the New Bohol airport that will replace the existing Tagbilaran Airport.

The New Bohol Airport will be built by the DOTC through the technical and financial assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Authority (JICA). The private partner will also provide the necessary capital investments to upgrade the capacity of the airport facility in terms of passengers, freight and Air Traffic Movement (ATM) within the timeframe set in the concession agreement.

• Laguindingan airport.

The project involves the expansion/construction of new passenger terminal(s), along with all associated infrastructure and facilities as per applicable standards; operation and maintenance of the passenger terminals (new and existing) during the entire concession period; development of airside facilities, including, among others, the apron, runway and taxiway; and enhancement/development of airside facilities to meet the enhanced scale of operations at the airport over the required duration.

The total project investment is estimated at P14.62 billion (US$324.89 million).

The total concession investment is estimated at P113.42 billion (US$2,533 million).

The first four airport projects were approved in late October by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) together with the Davao Sasa Port and the Regional Prison Facilities PPP projects.

The last two airport projects were also approved by the NEDA in late June together with the Laguna Lakeshore expressway and dike project which is the biggest PPP project approved so far.

The project information memorandum (PMI) will be available by 23 December 2014 while the Instructions to prospective bidders will be available by February 2015.

See the tender announcement:

http://ppp.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DOTC-Airport-Project-Bundling-ITPB-15Dec2014.pdf