New Clark airport terminal handed over to private operator

The newly completed passenger terminal building of the Clark International Airport has been turned over to a private consortium, which will operate the gateway for 25 years.

In a ceremony at the airport site in Pampanga, Megawide-GMR Construction Joint Venture handed over the certificate for the completion of the Clark International Airport New Passenger Terminal Building’s Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) works to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

The event marks the official handover of the facility to the Philippine government, the BCDA said in a statement.

The DOTr and BCDA subsequently turned over the airport terminal to its operations and maintenance partner Luzon International Premier Airport Development Corp. (LIPAD) "for final fit-out prior to opening and full operations within the year.”

The 110,000 square-meter Clark International Airport New Passenger Terminal Building is a joint project of DOTr and BCDA and is the first hybrid public-private partnership (PPP) project under the Build Build Build program of the Duterte administration.

It is located within the Civil Aviation Complex of the Clark Freeport Zone.

Its construction is the first phase of the airport's expansion, which will increase passenger capacity from the current four million to 12.2 million per year.

The private consortium of Megawide-GMR, which won the contract for the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) of the terminal, started construction on the facility in 2018, and completed the project in October 2020.

Meanwhile, LIPAD, which was awarded the 25-year concession agreement for the operations and maintenance of the Clark International Airport, is expecting to complete its fit-out works and interior finishes and start operations by July 2021.

LIPAD is the consortium of Filinvest Development Corporation, JG Summit Holdings Inc., Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions Inc., and Changi Airports Philippines (I) Pt. Ltd.—AOL, GMA News