MCIA consortium to take over NAIA rehab

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The consortium running and operating Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) was named to take over the rehabilitation project of the country’s busiest airport.

In a report submitted to the local stock exchange on Friday, July 17, Megawide Corporation disclosed that they received official communication from airport authorities of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Metro Manila to lead the hub’s rehab.

“In a letter dated 15 July 2020, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) granted the consortium led by Megawide Construction Corporation with GMR as partner operator, the Original Proponent Status (OPS) for the development of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport,” stated the report.

The NAIA rehab project has been in limbo recently when several members of its original consortium, called the NAIA consortium, decided to step back from the project mostly due to financial concerns brought about the pandemic. The NAIA consortium is composed of some of the country’s top conglomerates.

GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) is the name of the consortium currently co-managing MCIA, the country’s second-biggest gateway next to NAIA.

India-based GMR Infrastructure Ltd. and the Saavedra-led engineering conglomerate also bagged the multi-billion project to build MCIA’s Terminal 2 which began operations in 2018. Terminal 2 caters to international flights.

GMCAC is currently co-managing MCIA together with the government’s counterparts from the MCIA Authority (MCIA) under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). Cebu’s international airport recently launched its own molecular laboratory dedicated to doing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests. /dbs