CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) is currently evaluating the eligibility of the proposal of a private sector proponent to finish the P3-billion Terminal 2 project of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) before the end of 2010.

CIAC Vice President for Administration and Finance and Joint Venture Selection Committee (JVSC) Chairman Romeo N. Dyoco Jr. said the JVSC Technical Working Group is in the process of evaluating and checking the eligibility of the proposal of the Private Sector Proponent (PSP) Pacific Avia Group Inc., (PAGI) under Annex C of the 2008 JV Guidelines.

Among these is the evaluation of PAGI’s detailed negotiations with CIAC to enhance their proposal and the eligibility check of local and foreign partners composing their consortiums.

Dyoco said the JVSC Technical Working Group has until March 28 for the evaluation and eligibility check of the proposals of PAGI.

He said that should PAGI pass the evaluation and eligibility check, it will then undergo a Competitive Challenge with other interested PSPs challenging PAGI’s proposal to build, finance, design and operate the P3-billion to P7-billion Terminal-2 project as a joint venture partner of CIAC.

Dyoco expressed high hopes that the project would be completed by September 2010 should all systems go smoothly.

“We will have the new terminal at the airport before the end of 2010,” he said.

PAGI’s foreign partners include Selex, Egis and Leigthon, while their local partners are A.M. Oreta Construction Company, DHL Philippines, DRI Holdings, EGIS AVIA S.A., Pentagon Development Corporation, the Bank of Commerce, and, Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose.

The new terminal is estimated to accommodate 3 million to 7 million passengers annually and one that can service long-haul commercial airlines of the world in accordance with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s vision of making the DMIA the Premier Gateway of the country.

As of March 23, CIAC is in the process of selecting a PSP to Design, Finance, Construct and Operate Terminal 2 of DMIA in accordance with Annex C of the 2008 JV Guidelines and other pertinent references and coordination with the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC).

The current Expanded DMIA Terminal-1, designed to accommodate at least one million to two million passengers annually, was inaugurated by President Arroyo in April 2008 to service the growing passenger volume due to the entry of foreign and local budget carriers at the airport.

The airport is serviced by air carriers Cebu Pacific Air which flies to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Macau and daily to Cebu; Tiger Airways of Singapore which flies out of Clark to Singapore; Air Asia of Malaysia via Clark to Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu; Asiana Airlines of South Korea via the Clark-Incheon route with connecting flights to the United States; and, local carrier South East Asian Airlines (Seair) which flies to Caticlan en route to the world famous Boracay Beach Island.

CIAC is currently in talks with a major Middle East carrier and long-haul flights are expected to start this year.