CAAP taps Aussie, Filipino firms to install new flight guidance system at NAIA

MANILA, Philippines - The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has tapped the joint venture of Indra Australia Pty. Ltd. and Philcox Philippines Inc. to install navigational guidance system at the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

CAAP director general William Hotchkiss lll said the joint venture bagged a P39.8-million contract for the supply, deliver, and commission with flight check of a Doppler VHF Omni-Directional Radio Range and Distance Measuring Equipment (DVOR/DME).

Hotchkiss said the installation of the new DVOR/DME that would replace the old equipment installed way back in 1986 would be completed in August.

He pointed out that the DVOR is the navigational guidance system that helps pilots locate and land on the runway during bad weather and low visibility.

He explained that the project includes incidental civil works including the removal of existing DVOR/DME system, underground power and data cables as well as the installation of new underground power and fiber optic cables.

Hotchkiss said the project also convers miscellaneous grounding, electrical and mechanical as detailed on the drawings as well as the rehabilitation of existing Doppler counterpoise and shelter system.

For his part, CAAP Bid and Awards Committee Chairman Rodante Joya said the competitive bidding helped the agency save P13.9 million for as the project bid ceiling was set at P53.7 million.

The NAIA DVOR system last bogged down in June 2010 forcing air traffic controllers in Manila to divert several flights to the nearby Clark International Airport (CIA) in Pampanga affecting thousands of domestic and international travelling passengers.

Joya said the DVOR is the navigational guidance system that helps pilots locate and land on the runway during bad weather and low visibility.

It is a type of short-range radio navigation system for aircraft that enables it to determine its position and stay on course by receiving radio signals transmitted by a network of fixed ground radio beacons, with the receiver unit using radio frequencies in the very high frequency (VHF) band.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is speeding up the rehabilitation of NAIA that has been time and again tagged as one of the worst airports in the world.

DOTC undersecretary Julianito Bucayan earlier directed DM Consunji Inc. to start the P1.3 billion NAIA Terminal 1 rehabilitation project that should be completed within 360 days from the issuance of the notice to proceed.

The rehabilitation project covers the structural retrofitting, improvement of mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection (MEPF) facilities as well as architectural works at the country’s busiest airport that was constructed in 1981.

Wall St. Cheat Sheet, a United States financial media company, has ranked NAIA eighth among the 10 Worst Airports in the World, citing overcapacity issues in terminals 1 and 3.

Last Dec. 23, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya announced that the government has tapped DMCI to undertake the much needed rehabilitation of NAIA Terminal 1.

The DOTC chief said the organizing committee of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is giving the agency until Dec. this year to finish the project as the Philippines is set to host APEC’s Summit meeting.