MANILA, Philippines – A world-class passenger terminal building is going to be built by a Philippine company in Caticlan Airport, the nearest air strip to world-renowned Boracay Island, starting December 2024.
Filipino tycoon Edgar Saavedra’s Megawide Construction Corporation disclosed on Thursday, November 28, that it has won the contract to design and build a new passenger terminal building in Caticlan Airport or the Godofredo P. Ramos International Airport in Malay town, Aklan, the main gateway to Boracay.
From Caticlan Airport, visitors often take buses to the Caticlan Jetty Port for short boat rides to Boracay Island. The longer route to Boracay is via the Kalibo International Airport in Kalibo town, Aklan.
Caticlan Airport is being operated by San Miguel Corporation Infrastructure subsidiary Trans Aire Development Holdings Corporation (TADHC). SMC Infrastructure is overseeing the modernization of the airport. Aside from a new terminal building, it plans to extend the existing runway to accommodate bigger aircraft.
“This will be another exciting opportunity for Megawide — to be able to work with one of the country’s largest and oldest conglomerates, San Miguel Corporation (SMC), and help realize its vision of a world-class facility at Caticlan Airport. We hope to impart our engineering excellence and be able to integrate our sustainable methodologies to this landmark development,” said Megawide CEO and chairman Saavedra.
Groundbreaking for the new passenger terminal building in Boracay is scheduled next month, Megawide said.
Saavedra, a civil engineer and an alumnus of De La Salle University where he got his engineering degree, has been on a mission to build a “first-world Philippines.”
Megawide, together with its partners, has built major infrastructure projects such as the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Mactan, Cebu; the Clark International Airport Passenger Terminal Building in Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga; and the Philippines’ first modern landport Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange or PITX in the capital region.
Both Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and the Clark International Airport have gotten international recognitions for their world-class designs. MCIA also got a 4-star terminal rating from international airport rating organization Skytrax last August.
The MCIA, operated by GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC), is the second largest airport in the country. It connects Cebu in central Philippines to the rest of the world.
From a 4.5-million passenger capacity in 2014, GMCAC renovated MCIA’s Terminal 1, increasing capacity to 10 million passengers in 2020. Its retail area also doubled. The world-class MCIA Terminal 2 opened in 2018, and further increased MCIA’s passenger capacity to 12.7 million passengers.
GMCAC had tapped Hong Kong-based Integrated Design Associates (IDA), which worked with Filipino designers Budji Layug, Royal Pineda, and Kenneth Cobonpue, for MCIA Terminal 2’s design. MCIA’s timber arches have become the main attraction of the airport, “symbolizing the waves of the beaches around Mactan and Cebu Islands.”
GMCAC maintained the MCIA for 10 years or from April 2014 to this year. Last October 30, the Aboitiz Group, via Aboitiz InfraCaptial Incorporated, took full ownership of Aboitiz GMCAC from Megawide for P7.76 billion.
“Our search for a partner-contractor who shares our vision of modernizing airports in the country has concluded with our partnership with Megawide. We believe that Megawide’s track record of building key infrastructure through efficient and sustainable practices will help us deliver a world- class facility within our committed deadline,” said SMC chairman and CEO Ramon Ang.
Aside from Caticlan Airport, SMC-led New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation is rehabilitating the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, and is undertaking the New Manila International Airport in Bulakan, Bulacan. – Rappler.com
