Tuesday, June 10, 2008 MCIAA consults Japanese firm on airport expansion
THE Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) will focus on the expansion of the existing international and domestic terminals to accommodate more airline passengers and concessionaires.
MCIAA General Manager Danilo Augusto Francia said that originally, the cost estimate of the project was P260 million. But it may be more, depending on what the Space and Engineering consultant will say.
The consultant, a Japanese firm, will find out the terms and reference of the expansion and will draw out the cost of the project so the MCIAA authorities will know the amount needed.
Francia said that once the cost is validated, the MCIAA Board and management will find the money to finance the project. It could be from the MCIAA’s income, loan or through a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme.
If through loan, the MCIAA Board will negotiate with any financial institution which is interested of lending money to MCIAA.
If through BOT, the MCIAA will conduct a public bidding to get the best offer to construct the terminal expansion, operate it,
and transfer its ownership to MCIAA.
“I think the process will be done in six months,” Francia said.
Francia said that the existing terminals can accommodate 4.5 million passengers per year. MCIAA authorities want the number to increase by more than half with the project.
He said that the airport authority is willing to invest on expansion projects because of the steadily increasing number of tourists and investors coming to Cebu.
At present, Mactan airport has 75 direct international flights a week to 12 destinations in Asia and Qatar in the Middle East.
But MCIAA is closely monitoring them especially that some airline companies are badly affected by the skyrocketing prices of fuel.
Direct flights have also increased the MCIAA’s income because outgoing passengers are paying P500 each.
Last year, the MCIAA has collected almost P1 billion in gross revenue against the target of P935 million.
The MCIAA will also complete the unfinished construction of the administration building so the different offices can transfer to the area and decongest the domestic and terminal building.
The construction of the administration building was started in 2006 during the time of then general manager Adelberto Yap.
But this was stopped by the MCIAA Board who also ordered an audit of the amount already spent for it.
“The administration building is still under audit. We’ll move on when it’s done right,” Francia said. (EOB)
