Construction of the Clark International Airport in Pampanga begins

Clark International Airport

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) broke ground on December 20, 2017 and officially awarded a PhP 9.36-billion contract for the expansion project of the Clark International Airport in Clark Pampanga. 

The multi-billion public-private partnership (PPP) venture by the current administration was awarded to Megawide-GMR who beat out the PhP 12.45B bid of Tokwing Construction Corp. and China Machinery Engineering; The PhP 12.298B bid of China State Construction Engineering; The PhP11.73B bid of China Harbor Engineering, and; The PhP 10.68B bid of Sino Hydro Corporation. 

Megawide-GMR is a partnership between the Philippine based Megawide Corporation which is partially owned  by Tycoon Henry Sy and the India based Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao Infrastructure Corporation.  Megawide-GMR was responsible for the enhancement of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) Terminal 1 – which now comfortably accommodates up to 8 million passengers a year, and ranked 14th Best Airport in Asia in 2016 by the Guide to Sleeping in Airports website – and is currently constructing MCIA’s Terminal 2 which will be operational this year.  

This is not Megawide’s first PPP venture, they are also building the Southwest Integrated Transport System and several school projects for the government. 

The refurbishment of Terminal 1 of the Clark International Airport is expected to be finished in 30 months - by the first quarter of 2020 – and is projected to comfortably handle up to 12 million passengers per year. The project is also expected to generate up to 2000 new engineering and construction jobs and is expected to draw heavily on local suppliers and financial institutions. 

The BCDA said that the Clark International Airport is expected to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and “Complements Clark which is being developed as the next investment hub in Asia.”  Under the PPP, the BCDA will be later looking for a private partner to operate the new Clark International Airport. 

*Photo courtesy of the Clark International Airport 2009 Annual Report