Gov’t sets bidding for P10.3-M dignitaries lounge at NAIA 3

MANILA, Philippines - The government is spending P10.32 million to put up a dignitaries lounge at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in time for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be hosted by the Philippines next year.

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has invited prospective bidders for the construction of the dignitaries lounge at NAIA 3.

Interested contractors could conduct site inspection on April 11 and submit their bids and eligibility documents on April 30.

MIAA said prospective contractors should possess a valid Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) License and have completed a contract similar to the project with a value of at least 50 percent of the approved budget for contract.

The agency added that bidding is restricted to sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least 75 percent interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

The bidding would be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the revised implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Transportation and Communications secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya earlier urged foreign airlines to transfer to NAIA 3 from the congested NAIA 1 that is undergoing a P1.3 billion facelift being undertaken by DM Consunji Inc.

So far, Delta Airlines has agreed to move its operations to NAIA 3 starting Aug. 3.

Abaya said the P1.9 billion retrofitting and rehabilitation of NAIA 3 being undertaken by the Takenaka Corp. of Japan is expected to be completed by July or one month ahead of the August schedule.

The rehabilitation works at NAIA 3 include baggage handling, flight information displays, computer terminals, gate coordination, and fire protection systems, among others to allow a faster and more pleasant experience for passengers flying in and out of Manila.

On the other hand, the rehabilitation of NAIA 1 involves the structural retrofitting, improvement of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection facilities as well as architectural works of the decades, old terminal building.

The objective of the rehabilitation of both terminals is to bring NAIA 1 back to its design capacity of around four to 4.5 million from the current seven to eight million. Latest data from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) showed the number of domestic and international passengers increased 3.1 percent to 32.865 million last year from 31.877 million in 2012.