Aboitiz takes over Laguindingan airport
A new and improved Laguindingan International Airport in Misamis Oriental is coming up soon, courtesy of the Aboitiz Group. —PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK OF CAAP AREA X
MANILA, Philippines – The rehabilitation of Laguindingan airport is set to begin following the official turnover of the gateway to Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. (AIC), which has been building its portfolio of regional airports to take advantage of the travel boom.
AIC president and CEO Cosette Calinao, in a virtual media briefing on Monday, said the group had taken the helm of Laguindingan’s airport operations and maintenance on Apr. 26.
“Following the official turnover last Saturday, we are embarking on a two-phase expansion,” she said.
For the first phase, the Laguindingan airport’s capacity will increase to 3.9 million passengers per annum (mppa) from the current 1.6 mppa. It will be further expanded to 6.3 mppa during the second phase, depending on the traffic demand.
The P12.75-billion concession agreement covering a 30-year period was signed in October last year.
Ahead of the takeover, the Aboitiz Group’s infrastructure arm already began coordinating with the government for the transfer of management of airport’s facilities, buildings and land.
The country’s sixth-busiest and Mindanao’s second-busiest airport has a 7,184-square-meter (sq m) passenger terminal building and 350-sq m cargo terminal.
Core facilities include the air traffic control building, car parks, aircraft rescue and firefighting building, administration building, maintenance building and other utility hubs.
By June, the Aboitiz Group is also set to take over the operations and maintenance of Bohol airport, passenger capacity of which will grow to 3.9 mppa by 2030 from the current 2 mppa.
The P4.53-billion project, which it won last year, will be realized in a 30-year concession period.
Winning the two airport contracts came after the company bought the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in 2022 from the consortium of Megawide Construction Corp. and GMR Airports International BV via a P25-billion share subscription and transfer agreement.
Since last year, AIC has taken full control over the regional gateway. INQ
