Seoul airport operator  bidding for NAIA rehab

MANILA, Philippines — The operator of one of the world’s best airports has bought bidding documents for the operations and maintenance of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), tightening the competition for the right to manage the gateway.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista told reporters that Incheon International Airport Corp. is eyeing to join the bidding for the P170.6-billion contract to operate and maintain the NAIA.

With this, Bautista confirmed that there are now seven parties interested for the 15-year concession to rehabilitate what is considered as one of the worst airports in the world.

“There are already seven groups that purchased the bidding documents. The last one that bought the bidding documents is from South Korea, the Incheon Airport Group,” Bautista said.

The addition of the Incheon Group also tightens the roster of possible bidders for the NAIA deal. The company runs the Incheon International Airport, voted as the fourth best airport in the world for 2023 by Skytrax.

The Incheon International Airport serves as one of the busiest gateways in the globe, and in 2019, it facilitated the travel of a record 71.17 million passengers.

Prior to this, the DOTr has issued bidding documents to six companies, namely, GMR Airports  International BV; San Miguel Holdings Corp.; Manila International Airport Consortium (MIAC); Spark 888 Management; Asian Airport Consortium; and Cengiz Insaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.

As scheduled, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) is conducting one-on-one meetings with the executives of some of the interested bidders.

Bautista said the agency has completed initial talks with GMR Airports, San Miguel, MIAC and Asian Airport Consortium. Likewise, he confirmed that discussions are ongoing for a number of issues, such as who pays the real estate taxes of NAIA once it is turned over.

Once all of the interested bidders are convened, the government plans to release the final draft of the concession agreement on Dec. 4 and accept bids until Dec. 27. Afterward, it aims to award the contract to the most qualified bidder in 2024.

In July the National Economic and Development Authority Board gave the DOTr its green light to pursue the P170.6 billion privatization of NAIA through a solicited process.

The concessionaire will be granted a period of 15 years, extendable by 10 years, to deliver all of the upgrades listed under the concession.