Filinvest-JG consortium inks O&M deal for Clark

A NEW passenger terminal is being built at Clark International Airport in Pampanga.

THE North Luzon Airport Consortium (NLAC), which includes companies owned by the Gokongwei and Gotianun families, on Tuesday signed concession agreement to operate and maintain the Clark International Airport for 25 years.
In separate disclosures, Filinvest Development Corp. and JG Summit Holdings, Inc. said NLAC inked the deal with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) at the Shangri-La at The Fort in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.
Aside from Filinvest and JG Summit, NLAC also includes Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions, Inc.; (PAGSSI) and Changi Airports Philippines (I) Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Changi Airports International (CAI).
Under the contract, the consortium will “develop the commercial assets, operate and maintain project facilities and fit-out the new terminal in Clark.”
NLAC was named the winner of the O&M (operations and maintenance) auction conducted by the BCDA on Dec. 20, after its bid was the only one that qualified. The consortium committed in its financial bid to give 18.25% share of the annual gross revenue from the airport to the government, well above the required minimum of 10%.
BCDA Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) Chairperson Joshua M. Bingcang said in November he wants the winning O&M contractor to start taking over before the new passenger terminal finishes construction, which is being built by Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR Infrastructure Ltd. It is scheduled to be completed in 2020.
“We don’t want the building to be completed and then the incoming operator will say that’s not what we want. So we want them to be part of the construction stage,” he said then.
Aside from NLAC, another group initially joined the O&M bidding — the X-Droid Consortium comprised of Indonesia’s Angkasa Pura II; Michael L. Romero’s Globalport 900, Inc.; Alfredo M. Yao’s Mazy’s Capital, Inc.; and Desco, Inc.
Mr. Bingcang said X-Droid Consortium failed to advance in the bidding after BCDA found deficiencies in its qualification documents, leaving NLAC as the sole bidder.
Filinvest and JG Summit also submitted a separate P839-billion unsolicited proposal for the Clark International Airport early last year. This was rejected because of the government’s intention to hold an auction for the O&M contract instead. — Denise A. Valdez