Clark airport operations and maintenance contract finalized

MANILA, Philippines — The 25-year concession agreement for the operations and maintenance (O&M) of the Clark International Airport has been finalized between the government and a private consortium, said the International Finance Corp. (IFC), the lead transaction adviser.

The long-term concession agreement was hammered out between the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and the North Luzon Airport Consortium made up of the Changi Airport of Singapore, Filinvest Corp., JG Summit and Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions.

This follows the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) public-private partnership (PPP) concluded in 2017.

This is by far the first airport project in the Philippines to be auctioned under the government’s hybrid PPP policy in which the government would build the hard infrastructure and the private sector would take over the operations and maintenance component of the project.

 “This project demonstrates IFC’s willingness to test and try out new PPP models in support of the government’s goal to deliver crucial infrastructure that is key to sustaining the country’s growth momentum,” said Vivek Pathak, IFC director for East Asia and Pacific.

Under the project, a new 100,000-square meter passenger terminal would be built, positioning the airport as a world-class facility and boosting air transport capacity for the greater Metro Manila area.

It would serve an estimated eight million passengers annually—four times its current capacity of two million—and is expected to reduce the strain on the congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport. This would also help create jobs and increase development in Central Luzon, a growing economic center.