New terminal at Clark airport seen completed by end of June

The construction of Clark International Airport's new passenger terminal building (PTB) is scheduled to be completed by the end of June even with the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) placed over Luzon.

According to private concessionaire Megawide Construction Corp., it is confident that the construction project may be turned over to the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) by July 31, 2020, should the lockdown end as scheduled on April 14.

"The ECQ has minimal impact on our construction timelines for Clark International Airport primarily because engineering and construction are Megawide’s core strengths and the fact that we leveraged on what we learned from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) expansion," Megawide chairman and chief executive officer Edgar Saavedra said in an emailed statement.

He was referring to the ECQ placed over Luzon from 12 midnight on March 17 until 11:59 p.m. on April 12, restricting travel within the region in efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

"Construction of the new terminal, access roads, bus station, and car parks is 96% complete with only minor works remaining. Despite any challenges we are facing, we were actually ahead of schedule before the ECQ was implemented in Luzon," said Saavedra.

Construction of the new Clark Airport PTB is being undertaken by Megawide GMR Construction Joint Venture Inc. (MGCJV), which won after submitting the lowest bid at P9.36 billion under a hybrid public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.