Turkey's Limak Group keen on NAIA rehab — DOTr's Bautista

Turkish airport operator the Limak Group is keen on joining the bidding to take over the Philippines’ main gateway as it bought the bidding document for the project last week, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said Monday.

The latest development means there are eight possible bidders ahead of the December 27 deadline, with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) expecting all eight of them to join the bidding to operate and maintain the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

“We are now in the process of one-on-one meeting with them. We are responding to their questions, their queries,” Bautista said during the EJAP Infrastructure Forum in Manila City.

“We want them to submit their proposal because we have given them the bidding document, the terms of reference that they will need to follow as far as the bidding is concerned, and we hope that all of them will submit their best and final offer by December 27,” he added.

According to its website, the Limak Group was involved in the Kemerovo International Airport Domestic Terminal Building, the Chelyabinsk International Airport Domestic Flights Terminal, and the Volgograd International Airport Domestic Flights Terminal in Russia, and the Senegal Dakar Blaise-Diagne International Airport in Senegal.

Aside from the Limak Group, among those that have bought bid documents are Asian Airport Consortium, Cengiz Insaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S, GMR Airports International, Manila International Airport Consortium, San Miguel Holdings Corp., Spark 888 Management, and the latest being South Korea’s Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC).

The government has set a December 27 deadline for the bids, with the evaluation scheduled in the first quarter of 2024. The financial closing is expected to take place in the second quarter of next year.

“Financial closing is very important because the winning bidder will have to pay an upfront fee as part of the terms of reference. They need to give us or pay the government an upfront fee of P30 billion,” Bautista said.

The Secretary earlier said the bidder that offers the biggest share of their revenue from managing NAIA would win the project, with the concession agreement indicating a filed P2-billion annuity payment.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board, chaired by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., in August opted to push through with plans to privatize NAIA through a solicited bid with the upfront payment cost now being studied and initially estimated at P30 billion.

This came after the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) in June submitted a joint proposal to the NEDA Board seeking a private concession to invest and improve the NAIA for 15 years.

The NEDA Board approved the 15-year concession period, with the option to renew for another 10 years based on a performance review, and should the two new airports — the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan and the Sangley International Airport in Cavite — be delayed.

Prior to this, the Manila International Airport Consortium (MIAC) in April submitted an unsolicited proposal to take over NAIA, but this was deemed “de facto closed” when the government opted for a solicited bid. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News